Matchstick Wars
by Daezil
Summary: With the world teetering on the brink of another war and battered by threats from angry spirits one would hope for better than a cynical, apathetic, and untrained child for an avatar, least of all one born on the wrong side of the battle-lines. In fact, the only one more disappointed about the identity of the new avatar is the new avatar himself.
1. The First Week

**Disclaimer: The Avatar/Legend of Korra Universe and associated characters are not my intellectual property.**

 **Summary: In which the warehouse explosion during the end of season four results in the death of Avatar Korra, Kuvira's victory over the United Republic, and the new avatar reincarnating into the middle of an arms race between the Fire Nation and the Earth Empire.**

 **Honestly, this story is one third because I wanted to explore what it would have meant for the Avatar Universe if Kuvira had won, one third because I wanted to write giant robot fights, one third me wanting to write a complete asshole avatar, and 100% because I could.**

 **While most of the characters featured in this story are OCs, some characters from the original series will be featured and will be tagged as I add chapters that they appear in. Due to the main character being an OC, mention of events taking place between Korra's death and the current time period (including the fate of some of our favorite LoK characters) will not be revealed until the current characters are given that information.**

* * *

Chapter One **:** The First Week

* * *

It was a widely recognized fact of the universe that you only went mecha fighting if you had nothing left to lose or you were dead stupid.

Wei Yuan did not consider himself a desperate guy. Oh, he and his had never been wealthy, sure–not in money, looks, or anywhere that counted, anyway, but they had never been exactly poor either. He knew good and well that they didn't do this for the money, even if it was a good excuse.

The thing was, Wei wasn't dumb either. He knew this was a bad idea (they both did, really, but Meiling was never going to let that stop her). If anything he had always been too smart for his own good. It just so happened that it was a common trend that too-smart-people tended to do dead stupid things when they were bored, and most of the time being 'dead stupid' here ended up with just being plain old dead. He knew that. He knew that this was an awful, terrible idea. Somehow, he really couldn't bring himself to care.

"Looks like one of the newer models," Meiling's voice barely carried over the thunder of crowd noise from the arena. As always, she sounded a little too excited for someone scoping out the competition. "They've got one of those wicked saw-attachments on the right arm though, so heads up."

Pausing in the middle of oiling a foot joint, Wei glanced up to the screen suspended from the far wall. The video feed to the arena was poor at best, but it was hard to miss the two three-story mecha's in the center fighting. One of them was currently locked in a death grip from behind and swinging a giant saw around in an attempt to get free. Such embellishments were pretty common since gun attachments had been banned from fighting units a couple of years ago.

"What makes you think that one will win?" Wei wondered, going back to his oiling. Only one more joint to go and they should be fine for the night.

"Clear case of superior craftsmanship." Meiling said, this time having to shout from where she sat on their own mecha's shoulder when the crowd noise escalated into a roar of approval. "That one might look like it was made someone's home garage but it's _clearly_ well designed."

"And the piloting has nothing to do with it at all?" Wei couldn't help but quip.

"Oh, well, the piloting is pretty decent, too, I'll give him that." She conceded. There was a sound of a platinum plate slamming back into place as Meiling finished up, and a moment later she was hopping off of the base of the ladder next to him. "Though, honestly I think we have him beat in that area."

Satisfied with the right foot, Wei stood, stretched, and moved over to the left. "What about engineering-wise?"

Meiling made the annoyed little puff of air she always did when she felt put-out and pulled on the rim of the floppy brown hat she insisted in wearing everywhere. "Oh please. We might not be winning any beauty contests, but at least give me a _little_ credit. We've gotten _here_ haven't we?"

She did have a point there.

Mecha fights were pretty straight forward; they kinda had to be in order to hold the attention of the fanbase. With the rapid development of weapons technology during the past decade and a half mecha units had been designed, redesigned, and redesigned again for military purposes, and as newer models continued to be implemented and older ones cast aside, it hadn't taken long for the shadier side of civilian life to get ahold of cast-off models that could be replicated by anyone with a good enough knowledge of engineering. Underground rings that had previously thrived off of Earth Rumble quickly switched over to new forms of entertainment in order to keep up with the times. Those who had previously gathered to watch earthbenders beat the snot out of each other with earthbending could now watch metalbenders beat the snot out of each other in mecha suits instead. The sport stayed the same at its core; the first one to get knocked down permanently lost, and the winner advanced to the next opponent.

That was pretty much the gist of the match currently finishing up on the screen. Unlike Earth Rumble, the fightmaster for the mecha matches liked to mix things up a bit. In order to keep everyone in the crowd engaged and looking forward to the next match, Fightmaster Xiao ended the night with what he called 'all or nothing' elimination, during which the top four competitors for the night all entered the arena at once for one big brawl. Who ever won there got a bonus cash prize along with their usual winnings from the night.

"You know this is a really bad idea, right?" Wei said. The crowd noise irrupted suddenly, and on-screen the saw-armed mecha was standing over its opponent victorious. Meiling had called it after all.

Meiling gave his shoulder a playful shove, nearly sending him tumbling off the foot of the mecha. "Don't be such a worry-wart! You'll do great!"

There was a lot he could have chosen to respond with sarcastically, but before he could open his mouth the door on the other side of the room opened and a woman in high heels with a clipboard walked in.

"Contestant 14 to the arena in five minutes," she drawled in a bored sounding voice. "Which one of you is piloting?" She glanced up from her sheet briefly, and then did a double take.

"That would be me." Wei said.

"And, yes, we're a little young to be doing this." Meiling said, answering the question on her face. At fifteen they were the youngest contestants to make it to the bonus match in the past three years.

The woman still looked curious, "You look a lot alike."

It was true. Both of them had the same pale green eyes and obnoxiously unruly brown hair. Their sharp facial features were also strikingly similar, and if it weren't for the fact that Meiling kept her hair in long braids and had breasts telling them apart would probably have been a nightmare. Wei smirked. "Yeah, well, I hear that's pretty common with twins."

"Oh," the woman said, shifting awkwardly. "Well, like I said, you're on in five." She glanced at her pocket watch, "probably more like four now. Good luck." She left quickly through the door she had come from.

"You're on!" Meiling squealed (actually squealed) and tackled him into an awkward hug. "Good luck!"

"Yeah," he sighed, "Thanks."

The cockpit on all standard mechas was at the top of the suit. The three-story models had chambers typically about five meters by five meters, large enough to comfortably metalbend and operate levers but not much else. Most home-designed models had windshields that wrapped around the front half of the chamber, allowing for a pretty typical range of vision. Meiling, however, who had big ideas despite their small budget, had built the windshield to wrap all the way around, allowing a 360 degree possible range of vision.

"Testing, testing," the Meiling's voice buzzed to life over the radio, "You getting this, Wei?"

"Loud and clear as usual," Wei confirmed, flipping the appropriate switches to power up the unit's main functions and strapping himself in to the safety harness so that he wouldn't get thrown around.

"You've got one minute before the round starts. You feeling pumped yet?"

Wei slid his goggles down over his eyes. His hands were sweaty, his knees were weak with pre-match nerves, and he was just starting to feel the beginnings of an adrenaline rush pulse through his system. "Sure, as much as usual."

Somehow the annoyed puff of air carried over the line. "You're no fun. Just relax, this one is going to be cake!"

He nearly smacked his palm to his forehead, remembering at the last moment that his goggles were in place. Last time Meiling had spent almost a week laughing at the red marks on his forehead. "Why would you say that?" He hissed. "Now you've gone and jinxed it!"

"Since when were you superstitious?" she shot back.

Before he could think of a reply, the rock wall of the waiting chamber they were in crumbled away, and it was go time.

By the time Wei walked his mecha into place on bottom left corner of the arena, the other three had already gotten into place in their respective corners. The video feed had not done the sheer size and volume of the crowd justice–since his last match about half an hour ago all empty seats had filled and people were standing crowded against the rock walls that formed the boundaries in the stands. The stands raised about two stories high above the ground for optimum viewing (and to keep spectators from getting stepped on), which only served to make Wei feel twitchy with so many people up close and personal while he was trying to concentrate.

A voice crackled to life over the loudspeaker and the ref scrambled into position in the center of the ring. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's the last match of the night," the announcer's deep voice boomed through the underground cavern and somehow managed to be heard over the sudden burst of cheering and shouting, "and we all know what that means!"

A couple of loudmouths from the front of the crowd somewhere to Wei's right took up the shout first, before it spread to the whole crowd, "Brawl! Brawl! Brawl!"

"That's right!" The announcer boomed. "Welcome, contestants, to All or Nothing Elimination. You know the rules, folks; anything goes, and when your mecha stops moving you're out! Let's get ready to _brawl_!"

More cheering from the stands. Blood was pounding in Wei's ears, and his arms quivered with nervous energy. He could practically feel the other pilots tensing up in anticipation from their cockpits.

He was so concentrated on just breathing that he almost missed the sound of the ref's whistle, and suddenly the crowd disappeared and there was just the ring and the four other pilots.

The two units in the top two corners immediately launched at each other, apparently having both marked the other as the biggest threat. That was a common problem with mecha fighting–pilots who made it this far had a tendency to spend ninety percent of their time facing opponents one-on-one, so when it came to a brawl they stuck to what they were comfortable with and focused all of their concentration on one enemy at a time.

Seeing that two of the fighters were preoccupied, mecha number three, which just so happened to be the saw-armed unit from the last fight made a dash for Wei.

 _Predictable._ Wei slid back into a defensive stance, bending the mechanics to respond to his movement. The saw-armed unit came in swinging the saw attachment out in front of him in a way that meant business. Such a heavy attack upfront would either break his stance and deal some wicked damage or force him to retreat backwards, right up against the arena wall.

As Saw Arm came crashing towards him, Wei shot out his hand and shoved one of the control levels forwards. Just as the unit dove at him, Wei's mecha bent forward and ducked underneath it. Frantically he yanked the lever back again, and he came launching back upright in just the right moment to grab Saw Arm by the waist. He didn't take the time to pay attention where exactly he was facing anymore, and bent mechanical arms to throwas hard as he could manage without straining any of the gears too badly. Meiling would skin him alive if he threw out the elbow joints again.

It was purely by coincidence the 'whatever direction I'm facing now' happened to be facing the other end of the arena where the other two contestants had been fighting. The newer looking of the two units had been holding its opponent in a pretty impressive headlock from behind when Saw Arm slid and crashed into both of them, raising enough dust from the impact to nearly mask all three from view for a moment.

Wei took a moment to reorient himself and wipe the sweat from his brow.

"That was so completely badass!" Meiling shouted over the radio, making him cringe. "Please tell me that wasn't an accident."

"Wha–of course not!" he probably would have sounded more convincing if his voice hadn't cracked in the middle of the statement.

Across the ring all three units were quickly disentangling themselves, and suddenly none of them seemed too concerned about taking out the guy next to them. All of them were facing his direction, and if mechas had any variety of body language Wei would have claimed they all looked like they wanted to murder him.

"I am so wrecked," he sighed. Well, at least he got one cool shot in. He slid into a metalbending stance, bracing for the inevitable onslaught.

The saw-armed unit hung back a bit this time and let the other two approach Wei first. The newer unit came at him first, and Wei noticed that the knuckles on its robotic hands had been reinforced with what looked damn close to a giant version of brass knuckles.

 _Well that's going to suck._ He thought right as one of the giant fists came crashing towards him. He threw up his right arm just in time to block and redirect the blow so that it glanced off of his unit's arm with a horrendous scraping sound.

A moment later, contestant number two came at him from behind aiming to grab him by the shoulders, and he thanked the spirits and Meiling's mechanical foresight for the fact that his windshield wrapped all the way around the cockpit. He saw it coming just in time to stagger out of the way, leaving momentum to carry contestant colliding right into Brass Knuckle Bot.

Saw Arm dove back into the action while they were down and nearly took off the left arm on Wei's mecha with a wide swing that he just barely avoided. _Damn this guy is annoying. Well as long as we're getting up close and personal…_

Grinning in a way that was probably scarier than it had any right to be, Wei slammed the big red button in the middle of the control panel ("for effect" Meiling had said). Outside the cockpit, blades slide out of a long notch along the outside of each of his mecha's forearms.

"Alright!" Meiling whooped, "Bringing out the big guns…knives…whatever!"

Saw Arm apparently wasn't prepared to give him any free shots and it took Wei all of his effort to keep the saw attachment away from him. It didn't help that his unit nearly tripped over contestant two, who currently having trouble getting up off the ground after a punch from Brass Knuckle Bot has damaged its right knee joint. After fifteen seconds the ref blew his whistle, ruling him down for good.

Only the three of them left, then. That was good.

Brass Knuckle Bot was no longer preoccupied. That was bad.

The saw-armed unit let down his guard momentarily when the other mecha made to punch him in the side, and with the strength behind those blows Wei didn't want to think about how much damage that could do the mechanics. Seeing an opening as Saw Arm turned to avoid the blow, Wei slashed the blade attachment down on the elbow of the arm with the saw on it. The blade wasn't nearly sharp enough to sever the limb, but, based on the alarming shrieking sound the chainsaw made as it stuttered to a stop and the hand went limp, he had cut through enough to do some damage.

Saw Arm's pilot was clearly not happy and threw his unit forward straight at Wei, carrying them both to the ground.

 _Idiot._ Wei was, at that moment incredibly grateful for the harness designed to keep pilots from being thrown around in their cockpits. _Now we're both exposed._ Sure enough, no sooner had they both hit the ground then Brass Knuckle Bot's fist slammed into Saw Arm with enough force to send it rolling off of Wei's own unit.

It was a tremendous pain in the ass getting mechas up off the ground quickly, and while you were down there was no easy way to move your unit by crawling or rolling, which left you exposed for several vital moments. The blow that the saw-armed unit took to the side had left a cringe-worthy dent, and the thing kept making odd jerking motions as the pilot struggled to get it up again. Wei frantically shoved at levers and forcefully bent metal joints to move. Brass Knuckle Bot was walking towards him.

A metal fist came flying at his left shoulder just as Wei had his unit sitting upright. He managed to rock just enough to the side to avoid a full hit, but his teeth rattled at the impact as reinforced knuckled slammed again the side of the units arm. _That would have disabled the whole arm._ He realized. _Shit._

The ref blew his whistle. The saw-armed unit was out. _Shit!_

There were a usually couple of seconds between a mecha throwing a major punch and reorienting itself enough to be able to strike again. With the energy that Brass Knuckle Bot put behind blows for that big of an impact it took an extra second or two for it to recover, which was just long enough for Wei to get his unit back on its feet.

Apparently the other pilot wasn't afraid to push his unit's mechanics because the second Brass Knuckle Bot was recovered he was throwing it back into action. Wei had to slam his mecha's left arm up to immediately block a punch right to the chest, which was where the central power source was located. _This guy is going to trash my unit!_ Meiling would probably have a few unrepeatable words to say to him if they ever met.

Brass Knuckle Bot tried to bring its fist down and break Wei's block. Unfortunately, the pilot forgot about the blades on Wei's unit's forearms, which sliced into the other mecha's wrist just enough for it joint to spark and the unit's fingers to slacken slightly as some of their connection got cut. Just a little more force and maybe he could sever the connection completely…

Except for some reason Wei couldn't get his left arm to move up any higher. Gritting his teeth, he felt at the metal gears controlling the arm's movement and willed them to move like he wanted. The left arm shook slightly, and he could hear a grinding sound from the shoulder. A stream of curses came from his mouth.

"Please tell me you're cursing because you just remembered something awful but unrelated." Meiling's voice buzzed over the radio.

"Bastard damaged something in the left shoulder." Wei spat. "I can't lift that arm all the way."

Brass Knuckles Bot suddenly pulled back its other arm and punched towards the chest again. Wei squeaked in a very un-manly way and barely got his other arm up in time to block it. The opposing pilot had apparently learned from his mistake and leaned more into the blow this time, Wei's forearm blades glancing against the platinum plating on the lower arm instead of slicing into the wrists.

"Hold on a sec," Wei said, mostly to himself. The other mecha was off balance because of their last blow.

Quickly as he could manage, Wei pushed his unit's arms forward and out, sliding the opposing unit's fists off and away from him. Then, instead of stepping back and away, he urged the controls forward, fast as he could manage.

For most mechas (including both Wei's and the unit he was fighting) platinum plating covered the unit like armor. Joints were typically left mostly unguarded in order to allow a wider range of movement, and most fighters couldn't afford materials to reinforce those areas for extra protection. This was also true of the place where the shoulders connected to a mecha's body.

Wei got in close to Brass Knuckle Bot, arms still up and held out in front him. Letting momentum carry him, he aimed the thin blades on his units forearms for the small area of exposure between shoulders and the upper body. The moment he made contact, he slashed down hard with both arms.

Sparks shot from the shoulder sockets of the other mecha. The arms flailed a couple times as the pilot frantically tried to move them. A moment later the sparks stopped and both arms fell limp at the unit's side.

Wei's mecha stayed locked in place right up in his opponent's business, and Wei could see into the other unit's cockpit, where the other pilot was quite obviously cursing at him.

Fifteen seconds passed and the ref blew the whistle.

It took a good twenty minutes to get the mecha back in the private garage they had rented out for the month. In all honesty it would have taken half the time if the left ankle weren't stalling from him pushing the unit to go to fast at the end (oh and _that_ was going to be fun to fix) and he weren't hanging back to wait until most of the other mecha units were either put up or being put in for repairs. When a match was done it was _done,_ but people were still people and Wei didn't want to deal with any petty jerks trying to start anything.

The moment his feet hit the ground they nearly collapsed underneath him, and he had to awkwardly stagger and lean back against the platinum plated robot leg behind him. Coming down from adrenaline was always the worst. He sank to the ground, and took a moment to feel the stone floor of the underground cavern through against his palm, paying attention to the small pulses that echoed through stone and dirt like Uncle Bai always made him during their lessons. Then the rare moment of indulgence was gone and he was back on his feet.

* * *

It didn't take as long to find Meiling as it probably should have. It was one of the convenient things about having a twin: you just had to ask around for 'that one that looks exactly like me except she's a girl'. It also helped that she seemed to pride herself in being noticeable. He only had to look for about a minute before following the sound of shouting into the chamber that served as the main lobby outside the arena, where she had cornered a tall, thick built guy in a business suit that he recognized as the Fightmaster Xiao, and she was giving him a piece of her mind. The dull crystal light in the room was casting a scary green glow on her eyes), and Mr. Xiao looked almost as uncomfortable as he was irritated.

"You, kid!" the fightmaster caught his eye before he could make it all the way across the room. Looking almost relieved when Wei walked up to them, he stabbed a thumb in Meiling's direction, "She's with you, aint she?"

"I'm not _with_ anyone!" Meiling practically spat, "I told you! I'm an _engineer_!" She turned to Wei, a dangerously indignant look on her face. "I came to collect our winnings and he won't give me the money!"

Mr. Xiao had one of those dubious expressions on his face that meant he was probably about to say something stupid and get himself slapped by his sister.

"We're a team," Wei said, before things could get too ugly, "She's in charge of mechanics and I pilot." This was a common arrangement in the world of mecha fighting, especially since only metalbenders could operate mechas. It was not common, however, for girls to be involved. Especially not on the engineering side of the coin. They had enough problems getting sideways looks just because they were a couple of fifteen year olds as it was.

Mr. Xiao was giving both of them a hard look now, eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them. Wei and Meiling matched him stare for stare, and Wei was actually kind of hoping that the guy _would_ say something, because it was pretty obvious that he would deserve the slap in the face it would get him.

He didn't say anything though (apparently he was smarter than he looked). After a moment he pulled a sack of coins out of his jacket pocket and tossed it to Wei.

"Good piloting tonight, kid," Wei cringed at being called 'kid', "Keep it up and you're going to be going places!"

Meiling snatched the sack out of Wei's hand, slid it open, and non-discreetly did a quick count of the money inside. When she was done, she glanced back up at Wei and gave a jerky nod to announce that it was all there. Mr. Xiao, who at this point was looking exhausted, shook his head and strode away from them.

"I think you offended him," Wei noted as they watched him disappear into the crowd.

Meiling didn't even try to hide her grin. "Yeah, well, he deserved it."

"Can't argue with you there."

They left through the east entrance. The system of tunnels that surrounded the fighting arena spread out for several miles under the lower ring of the city in all different directions, making the first challenge of mecha fighting just finding where the place was. The access tunnels varied in length and size, some big enough to pilot most mechas through and others barely tall enough for spectators to walk comfortably. Many of them doubled back on themselves or could end up leading you to completely different places. Some spectators complained of over-kill, but it was a necessary precaution when your business wasn't exactly legal, and while Earth Rumble patrons had only had the concerns of a steep fine at most if caught during the reign of the late Earth Queen, the city police force under the direction of Empress Kuvira was not one to offer a mere slap on the wrist when it came to breaking the law. Especially when it came to building and operating non-regulation pieces of military equipment.

The first time they had snuck out to go see a mecha fight, Wei and Meiling had gotten lost in one of the many tunnels and had only made it to the fight at all because they had run into some stragglers on their way to the match and followed them. They had gotten lost again on the way home, and nearly hadn't made it back before morning, which had almost gotten them busted. By now, one year later, they knew there way well enough. Or, at least, well enough to avoid trouble at home.

Meiling spent most of the walk tossing one of their hard won gold pieces up in the air and catching it, which was driving Wei crazy–not that he was going to tell her that. Once they broke off into one of the smaller tunnels that branched closer to the surface and they were the only two around to make noise, Meiling snatched the coin out of the air and stuffed it back in the sack. She turned to him.

"You're being really quiet for someone who just got done kicking ass. Why so glum?"

Wei rolled his eyes up so that he was watching the roof of the tunnel. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired is all."

The tunnel ended abruptly with a ladder leading up to a trap door. Wary of being seen even if it was the early hours after midnight, Wei cracked the door open and glanced around first. This particular door opened up into what used to be an old noodle shop near the edge of the Lower Ring–now it was mostly used as a cover for more than a few dishonest goings-on. When he was sure that everything was still and quiet as it should be he pushed the door all the way open and hauled himself up and out, pausing to help Meiling through as well.

"I know when you're lying, you know." she whispered this time when she spoke. They slid through the back door of the building quickly and silently as they could. There was no official curfew, but the police were quick to stop people they caught lurking about at night, and if anyone noticed the amount of money they had on them then they were definitely going to look suspicious.

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it," he whispered back as they walked lightly through the back streets, keeping close to the buildings.

The streets were, as expected, pretty much empty. Street lamps shined from the main roads periodically, casting the alleys in shadow, which made it easy to escape notice so long as they were quiet. The far off glow from one such lamp shone on a jumble of posters that had been pasted in one big mass of text on the wall of what looked to be a seamstress's shop. When they passed his gaze was drawn to the stark pictures of men and women in the official military uniforms, staring nobly off into the distance with the words 'Your Nation Needs You! Enlist Today!' printed boldly above. Military propaganda. Probably everyone in the picture was an earthbender. Funnily enough, pasted almost on top of it was a poster in bright yellow with the words 'End the Oppression! Join the Equalists!'. He didn't linger long enough to read whatever anti-bending message they had included below.

They walked two blocks in silence. He didn't need to turn around to know that Meiling was giving him a _look_ ; he could feel it burning into his back.

"Fine," he conceded, rubbing the back of his neck. By the spirits, it was a pain in the ass keeping secrets when you had a twin! "Uncle Bai keeps bringing it up again."

"Oh," the word fell heavy in the air. "The earthbending thing?"

They paused in talking and flattened themselves against a wall as a police satomobile drove by on the main street. Wei let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Yeah, that thing."

They walked along quietly again for a couple of moments. They were nearly to the end of the Lower Ring now, and soon they would be in the clear

"I'm going to level with you, Wei," Meiling said, "I don't really get why you're so bothered. I mean, so he thinks you should take earthbending more seriously. So what? I mean it makes _sense_. Mom and Dad aren't going to get mad at you if you do. Besides, Uncle Bai just doesn't want you to waste your talent!"

Wei grimaced and was thankful that she couldn't see it in the dark. "What talent? I'm not even that good!"

This time he didn't have to imagine the annoyed look on her face much because she grabbed him on the shoulder and yanked him so that he was facing her in the dark. "Um, you do _know_ where we just came from, right? You remember what we got done doing about half an hour ago?"

Despite himself he felt his cheeks heating up, and he was really glad for the dark. "Yeah, but any metalbender can operate a mecha these days."

Meiling snorted in a most unladylike fashion. "Oh please. I swear you are _so_ full of–"

There was rustling from somewhere nearby, and Wei slapped his hand over Meiling's mouth to shut her up. He cringed and shot her a disgusted look when he immediately felt her tongue lick the palm of his hand. A moment passed with complete silence, and he pulled his hand away, wiping it against his pants. "Sorry, I thought I heard something. Anyway, we should keep moving…"

Two forms stepped out of the shadows at the head of the alley and blocked their path. The streetlight from the main road was at their back, so it wasn't easy to make out their features, but both were definitely male, large enough to be a problem and poised in a way that meant they definitely meant to be one.

"Hey there," the guy on the left (tall, slim, and bald as a melon) said casually, "you kids look like you're a bit lost."

"Hey to you too," Wei quipped back, even as a knot formed in the pit of his stomach, "you look like you're a bit of a nosy creep." _Why does sarcasm have to be my first line of defense?_

Meiling elbowed him in the ribs. "I'm so sorry about my brother," she said, using what Wei recognized as her 'I'm the _good_ child' voice, "he doesn't have any manners. We actually don't live too far from here and were just getting home. We're already late, you see, and our father tends to come looking for us if he gets worried."

It was a pretty good play, for the situation, and Meiling was pulling it off well with that perfect innocent expression of hers. However, Wei had a bad feeling that they weren't going to be getting out of this one so easily.

"You hear that, Qiang?" Baldy said to his pal, who made up for what he lacked in height with pure girth that Wei didn't doubt was all muscle. "They said they don't need our help!"

'Qiang' made a scoffing sound, "Seems strange to me how two rich kids would know their way around the Lower Ring at night if you ask me."

"Rich kids!" Wei said, "That's ridiculous! In what way to be look like we come from money?"

It was hard to see, but the raised-eyebrow-look of skepticism that both men were giving them came across pretty clear anyway. It was a fact that the Yuan family was indeed not wealthy. Their father, Ling Yuan, was born into a Middle Ring family and owned a restaurant with their mother, Li Hua, as part of the upper-merchant class. Wei and Meiling had been raised in the middle ring, where their family had just enough extra money to send both them and their older brother to a good school, and while most people in the Earth Empire would still never consider them anywhere near rich, compared to a significant portion of the Lower Ring they might as well have been.

Wei wasn't stupid. For the most part it was easy enough for Meiling and him to slip on some less-nice clothes and sneak out in the middle of the night without too much attention being drawn to them, but when it came right down to it, anyone who had practice observing people could tell that the two of them were on the wrong end of town. They hadn't been raised in the Lower Ring, and a year of sneaking out once a month wasn't enough to make them feel or look any less out of their natural environment, and while their clothes might not have looked nice that didn't cover up the fact that they were free of wear and tear and still looked almost as new as the day they had been bought.

"To be fair," Wei tried, "we're technically middle-class."

"Look, kid," Baldy said, "We don't want any trouble, okay? So how about you just hand over whatever you've got on you and we call it a night?"

Any other night Wei probably would have just told Meiling to give up the money, because it really probably wasn't worth it. Tonight however was the night that they had finally, _finally_ made it all the way and he had been feeling pretty good about that. In a deep primal sense, this wasn't just money they had won–it was _accomplishment_. And Wei was nothing if not prideful. And besides, they had _plans_ for this money, for once.

"What, you're robbing _us_ and _you're_ the ones who don't want trouble?" Wei said, skepticism dripping from his words. "If you're that concerned about it then screw off and leave us alone."

Meiling was giving him that look, like 'you are a total idiot and your sarcasm is going to get us killed', but, well, he was pretty used to that look anyway.

Baldy sighed dramatically, "Has anyone ever told you that you're obnoxious? Well, anyway, don't say that I didn't give you a chance."

Wei had kind of assumed that at least one of their would-be-robbers was an earthbender when neither of them pulled a weapon, so it didn't come as much of a surprise when Qiang slid into an opening stance and suddenly the rocky ground reached up to cover their feet and trap them in place. Wei managed to twist his right foot out of the trap before it was too late and stomp it into the solid ground, sending a spike of rock shooting towards their attackers. It wasn't his most graceful of moments, and the other earthbender ducked under the blow and finally succeeded in trapping his other foot. Wei had just cast out his senses searching for anything metal within bending distance when Meiling let out a startled squeak.

"Um, Wei," she said. She sounded nervous, which was not a good sign.

"Little busy here," Wei said. Ah, good, there was a bucket on the alley ground not too far behind them with a metal handle; maybe he could get close enough to bend it into a weapon…

"The roofs, Wei," Meiling said, and yeah, she definitely freaked out.

 _What?_ He followed her gaze up to the rooftops, first the one on their right, then the one of their left. On each one stood another thief who then almost immediately hopped down into the alley behind them, leaving them surrounded.

"Give it up, kid," Baldy was talking again, a smug smile on his face. "I don't know how good you are with earthbending, but you can't take on all of us."

That was painfully true. Growing up in a family of all non-benders except for himself had not exactly yielded a deep interest in mastering his element. Even if he hadn't only been taking sporadic lessons with his uncle for seven years, Wei still probably wouldn't be close to mastering earthbending enough to take on four people, most of whom were probably also earthbenders.

 _This_ , Wei thought sourly _, is one of those times that it would actually be nice to have the cops around._ Well, if he was going down, he wasn't going down without at least putting up a fight first.

His feet were immobilized, but his hands were still free. Thinking fast, Wei bent backwards and slammed his hand into the ground. The bucket he had located earlier came rolling towards him as a chunk of earth underneath it came shooting upright abruptly. Wei snatched the bucket and righted himself. In a single instant, Wei bent the metal handle on the bucket into a thin, sharpened shaft and shot it towards Baldy's face, right as the guys from the roof launched towards him. Baldy ducked to the side and the projectile only clipped his ear. Before he could see any more, the two guys had tackled Wei and he went down hard, the earth retracting from his feet so that he fell flat on his ass in the dirt.

Everything hurt. There were two fully grown men holding him down, and his back was not thanking him for the impact on the ground. Off to his side, Meiling was watching him, eyes scared, but she was still standing. Wei tried to smile to reassure her that he was all right, but it came out as more of a grimace. She looked away from him, instead focusing her attention on Baldy. At her side, her fists were clenched and shaking ever so slightly.

"Look, you can have our money." She said. Unlike her hands, her voice did not shake. "Just let me and my idiot brother go."

 _Even in times of crisis she makes time to insult me,_ Wei thought, mostly because he was trying to focus on being indignant at this whole thing instead of being terrified. _Spirits, we are so screwed._

Baldy walked over the Meiling, who was still immobilized, and thoughtfully stroked his chin. "What, after your brother attacked me and my men unprovoked?"

' _Unprovoked' my ass!_ It was a miracle that he forced himself not to actually say the words out loud.

"What's a sweet thing like you doing in the Lower Ring anyway?" Baldy asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. Slowly, he reached out and stroked a hand across Meiling's cheek.

Stone-faced, Meiling backhanded the guy, quick as a viperbat.

Baldy came back up with an angry red mark on his cheek and a look that could kill. "Son of a _wolfbat_ ," he spat, yanking Meiling's wrist and twisting it up in the air. "You _bitch_."

Wei, who had been on the receiving end of his fair share of playground bullying, was no stranger to feeling helpless and frustrated. But when a small sound of pain escaped Meiling's lips as her arm was yanked in an awkward angle, Wei was not quite sure of the feeling that suddenly consumed him.

Wei didn't really _get_ angry. Not in the sense that most people lost their tempers, anyway. He got irritated, which usually resulted in dripping sarcasm. He got indignant, which ended up with him going off on self-righteous rants for short bursts. On occasions, he seethed, which mostly gave way to scathing looks and passive aggressive comments. But most of the time, Wei wasn't the type to blow up at people or really even _get_ angry.

So, to his complete credit, what happened next was in no way something he could have predicted or be held accountable for. Because, in all honesty, the person least equipped to deal with the unholy wrath of Wei Yuan was in fact Wei Yuan.

Something in Wei's gut _boiled_ as a red haze of anger crept over his vision, and Wei didn't know what this feeling was, just that, somehow, he could use this to hurt the people who were hurting him and his family. The rush of heat in his stomach turned into rush of energy through his body, and the man who had been holding down his wrists screamed as heatseared from his fingertips, lighting up the alleyway in a flickering orange glow.

Wei didn't stop to contemplate this. The second his hands were free he sat up sharply and swept his hand in a wide motion in front of him, flames trailing his fingers and wreaking havoc upon the men before him.

Cries of surprise and agony mingled in the air with the smell of burnt hair and flesh, and where four men had stood around them only the bald man remained, standing frozen in shock where the others had been smart enough to flee from.

"Great Spirits of the earth," the bald man said, voice shaking.

Wei was on his feet somehow. He didn't remember standing up. "Leave." he snarled, voice sounding raw and strange to his own ears.

Baldy turned and fled, nearly running headlong into a fence post as he rounded the corner onto the main street.

"Wei?" Meiling said. For some reason her voice sounded far away. "Are you…what…"

Wei started down at his hands. "Well," he said, "that was weird."

He fell to his knees and puked all over the alley floor.

* * *

He dreamed of a far off place, where lights danced in the night sky and there was nothing but snow for as far as the eye could see. He knew somehow that there was a village in the distance behind him where warm fires and smiling faces would greet him, but for some reason he couldn't turn back. And so he walked onward through the endless ice.

In the morning, Wei woke up in his bedroom (Middle Ring, Ba Sing Se, _home_ ) feeling cold and empty inside, and for a delirious moment, he was actually able to forget.

* * *

Breakfast at the Yuan household was nothing spectacular. Ling Yuan was usually up before the sun and already working on his third cup of tea by the time Wei and Meiling could be roused out of bed to get ready for school. Their mother, Li Hua, was up and alternating between cooking breakfast and yelling at Cheng to get out of bed. Someone must have turned on the radio because the slightly staticky sounds of smooth jazz were drifting in from the sitting room.

For the first time since they were thirteen Meiling was already at the table when Wei managed to shuffle his way to a chair, still half blinded by sleep but somehow miraculously already dressed in his school uniform. Usually it took at least another fifteen minutes of messing with her hair and make-up before the girl was willing to present herself.

Mom was just sliding a dish in front of him when Wei realized what his sister was up to.

"So, Dad," Meiling said casually, "You studied history at Ba Sing Se University, right?"

Their father made a non-committing sound from behind his cup, but he glanced up, so he was probably paying attention.

"I was just wondering…" she was using her 'carefully disinterested' voice now, and that was a dangerous voice indeed. "What was the last avatar like?"

Wei choked and barely managed to keep from spraying hot tea all over the table. Next to him Cheng was giving him a weird look.

What, by Kyoshi's toenails, did she think she was doing?

Their father set his cup down and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, that wasn't exactly my primary area of study, though the Avatar is often the center of great historical events. While there is a wealth of information on many past avatars, Avatar Korra was relatively young when she died, and much about of her life is unknown to us."

"Right," Meiling said, clearly ignoring every single 'what-are-you-doing' face that Wei was sending her, "But she _was_ a powerful bender, right?"

"All avatars are powerful benders, Mei," Cheng cut in, and, oh no, his chin was raised in that superior expression that he liked to wear when talking to them ever since he had started attending university. "That's why they feel they can do whatever they want and change whatever they want while we _normal_ peopleget stuck dealing with the consequences. Its just one of the many arrogances of benders." he glanced lazily in Wei's direction. "No offense."

"None taken," Wei said, feeling pretty offended. There were certain downsides to living in a family that was predominately Equalist. Even though Mom and Dad always tried to make a point that they didn't care that they didn't love him any less since he was a bender, it was still awkward whenever the topic came up. Especially now, if he remembered last night correctly which–nope, not thinking about it. He definitely did _not_ want to think about it.

Meiling, apparently, was not on the same page. "But Avatar Korra didn't die that long ago, right?"

"Fifteen years ago, at the battle of Republic City, yes," Ling Yuan admitted, "though the exact details are unknown."

"I do hope that you're not talking politics at my table," their mother said lightly as she strode into the room with another dish and took her seat at the table. Despite her tone there was an edge of steel to her gaze. It was a general rule that they didn't discuss certain topics over meals.

"All historical, my dear," their father said. To Meiling he remarked, "These matters are not widely talked about, you understand, and while curiosity is admirable you must be careful where you pry."

Meiling stuck her lip out in a pout. "But it's interesting!"

Their father raised an eyebrow, "Why all the interest, all of the sudden?"

"School project," Wei said before Meiling could say anything stupid. Judging by the look she was giving him, she was _not_ happy about the intervention. "And we're not allowed to get outside help."

Their father furrowed his brow disapprovingly. Yeah, his sister was going to kill him.

To her credit, though, she almost gave it up right there. But Meiling Yuan was not one to give up on a mission easily. And Wei didn't doubt that in her head she saw this as a mission.

"The last avatar died fifteen years ago?" she said. She was looking at Wei.

A silence descended over the table that felt nearly deafening to Wei as his stomach churned and sweat beaded on his forehead.

The silence was broken by a snorting laugh from Cheng. "Oh, spirits, Mei, I know what you're thinking," Wei's heart rate skyrocketed. "You know _you_ can't be the avatar! You're not even a bender!"

Across the table Meiling did an impressive sputtering act. Mom and Dad, both looking equally amused, had gone back to eating their breakfast. Wei let out a soft sigh of relief.

Meiling recovered quickly. "Fair enough…but what about Wei?"

 _Are you_ trying _to kill me?_ He couldn't ask out loud, but he was pretty sure she understood from the look of despair that was probably written all over his face.

Cheng was apparently making himself uncharacteristically useful this morning. "Don't be dumb. The Avatar can bend all _four_ elements. Wei just got stuck with earthbending."

Meiling opened her mouth to offer a retort, but their father thankfully broke in with "Shouldn't you all be getting off to school before you're late?"

In the ensuing scramble to get out the door, the topic was mercifully dropped.

* * *

"I'm curious," Wei said once the house was out of sight. "What exactly are you trying to accomplish. Other than making me prematurely gray."

Instead of stopping or slowing down, Meiling turned around mid-stride and faced him while walking backwards.

"You know, for someone who was going all Phoenix King on some bullies less than twelve hours ago you're acting very disinterested," she said, which was not any kind of answer.

Wei glanced around uneasily, but they were in a part of the Middle Ring by now where the houses had tapered off, and it was mostly empty road between them and the academy. There was no one around to hear them.

He stared up at the sky, as if he could pick the right words out of the clouds. "I'm not disinterested," he said slowly. "I flat out don't want to know."

Meiling stopped, very nearly causing a collision. "You don't want to know." her tone was flat.

There was that uncomfortable feeling in his stomach again, like he was either going to throw up or pass out. "Look Mei, last night was…weird. There was fighting, confusion, there could have been spirits messing around for all we know! What I'm saying is, _anything_ could have happened in that alley! And frankly, I'd rather not spend time worrying over what was obviously some grand universal conspiracy, trickery, or fluke, when I'm having enough trouble just getting through school as it is."

Suddenly Meiling was nose to nose with him, grabbing the collar of his uniform in a way that made breathing uncomfortable. "Let me get this straight. You firebend four back alley thugs into submission in the middle of the night after having the snot beaten out of you and that's a 'fluke'?"

He made wheezing noise, and she let go of his shirt. "It was an _accident_!"

"Spirits, Wei! Who is the _only_ person in the world who can _accidentally_ bend an entirely new element?"

"Toph Beifong invented metalbending under duress."

She gave an annoyed little huff. "That's completely different. Why are you so opposed to this anyway? I mean would it really be that bad if you _are_ the–"

"Yes!" Wei said before she could actually say the word out loud. "Yes it would be that bad, Mei! Do you have any idea the sorts of things that happen to…people like that? Korra didn't even live to see thirty, and do you even _know_ the rumors about how she died? I don't _want_ to know the details!"

"So one person had bad luck–"

"Aang was frozen for _one hundred years._ " Wei deadpanned. "And then he woke up to find out all his people had been massacred. Roku was pretty much _murdered_. By his _best friend_." He ran a hand through the hair on the back of his head. "Forgive me if I don't exactly feel inclined to play hero to a world that, oh by the way, _hates our guts_ currently."

Meiling scowled, turned back around and started walking again, tugging at one of her braids in irritation. All she said, though, was "Come on, Dummy, we're going to be late."

They weren't late, though Professor Yao gave them a stern look when they stepped into class seconds before the bell. Class was nothing spectacular, though Wei was worried that Meiling was going to make just as much of a fuss as she did at breakfast. Thankfully, though, history class passed with blissful silence from his twin. In fact, the day actually went suspiciously normal given that Wei spent it feeling as if someone had pulled a rug out from underneath the foundations of his life.

(Because he had lied to Mei about being disinterested– because underneath all the usual haze of facts being fed to him all he could think about was the sudden rush of heat to his finger tips and the smell of burnt hair and that little whisper of _something_ in the back of his mind that told him that he could do it again and it would be easy.)

The only deviance from the usual was when Hui Zhang, their faithful friend since forever, walked in late, right in the middle of their lesson on the cruel reign of the pre-empire monarchy. Whispered words were exchanged with the teacher, and he took his seat behind Wei.

"Why so late?" Wei chanced whispering when the Professor turned around to make note of something on the map in the front.

"Remember how I said we were worried about paying for my mom's treatment?" Hui whispered, leaning forward so that he could be heard by both the twins sitting side by side.

"Yeah, of course," it was no secret the Mrs. Zhang suffered from recurring sickness of the lungs.

There was quiet as Professor Yao turned back around, describing in what was probably unnecessary detail the carnage of the riots following the murder of the 53rd Earth Queen. After a moment, he turned back around and Hui leaned forward again.

"Well, this morning, Dad discovered that someone had broken in through one of our windows and been in our sitting area."

"What!" Wei said, just a little too loudly, and coughed to try and cover it up as Professor Yao glanced over his shoulder suspiciously before launching back into his explanation.

"They didn't steal anything, as far as we can tell," Hui said quickly. "They left a bag on the table that was full of money."

"Wow," Meiling said, "that's very strange."

"I know!" Hui said, "but the weirdest thing is, whoever it was left a note too. It said that the money was a donation and the donor wished to remain anonymous." The excitement in his voice was barely contained at this point. "It was more than enough money to cover the initial costs for medicine, and Dad says that we should be able to handle everything else! It's like a gift from the Great Spirits!"

"Yeah," Meiling said, waggling an eyebrow at Wei in a gesture Hui couldn't see from his angle. "It sure sounds like it."

Professor Yao seemed to suspect them of trouble, because he stayed more attentive for the rest of class. When he dropped his chalk and had to take a second to pick it up, Wei scribbled out a note and flicked it onto Meiling's desk.

 _You broke into their house?_ He wrote. _REALLY?!_

A couple moments later a note dropped on his desk in return.

 _Well I couldn't leave it on the doorstep for anybody to take! And you weren't exactly there to offer any brilliant ideas!_

That was, unfortunately, true. The night previous, after having finally been scraped off of the alley floor in a woozy state by Meiling, the two of them had hurried out of the Lower Ring. The journey itself was a bit of a haze, but Wei did recall Meiling dropping him off at home and telling him to get to bed before he passed out and then heading off to drop off their prize money. If he had been in a better mental state he would have never let her go alone, but the Middle Ring was a safer place than the Lower, and he hadn't been up for arguing.

 _How are you alive and still not in prison?_ He wrote back, cramming the other note in his pocket so that no one else would accidentally see it.

He wasn't quite sure how he didn't set the note he got back on fire. As it was he tore it into fourths and shoved the pieces in his pocket with the other note.

 _Because my brother is the avatar._

* * *

For as big a deal as Meiling was making about the whole affair, the week that followed started off…quiet. She didn't drop the subject–Wei hadn't thought she would. But after the weekend came and passed and nothing else especially strange had happened apart from wandering spirits following them home (which had been a pretty regular occurrence anyway), she stopped prying him so hard.

"Look Wei," she had said finally, when she realized he wasn't going to open up about the topic, "Either you're the avatar–which, by the way, fits perfectly with both the pattern of elements and the timing of the reincarnation cycle–or you're the world's first known dual bender and are a freak of nature that fits nowhere in modern society. Either way, you're my brother and I'm not going to abandon you just because you're having an identity crisis."

He hadn't been sure what exactly to say to that, but was grateful for the sentiment nonetheless.

The calm didn't last.

Three days into the week Wei got frustrated with his classical literature assignment (how by Oma and Shu was _he_ supposed to figure out poetic verses of the northern gurus–he was a fifteen year old for spirits' sakes, wasn't this the teacher's job?) and somehow managed to set his essay and the entire desk on fire. Their parents hadn't been home, and luckily Cheng didn't pay much attention to what went on outside of his own room. Meiling had helped him put out the fire and clean up the mess. They hadn't been sure how to explain the char marks on the desk, so Wei was relying on using his vast array of books to hide them until they could think of something less impossible than the truth.

Four days into the week Meiling took a break from giving him his space and suggested (while waving the charred remains of his essay–why did she even still _have_ that?) that, whatever he believed about how he was suddenly a firebender, he should at least learn how to control it a little. Still seething from the day before, he told her exactly what she could do with her suggestions in the future.

Five days into the week Wei freaked out when a spiderwasp flew into his face on the way to school and incinerated not only the bug but also a patch of well-manicured grass from the academy's far lawn. Most of the staff was still baffled about what possibly could have caused the damage.

On the sixth day, he sneezed and set the curtains in the living room ablaze. Li Hua Yuan was beside herself for obviously leaving one of her scented candles lit too close to the window.

By the time the weekend had rolled around again, Wei woke up before the sun to find Meiling standing by his bed with a look on her face that could make wolfbats cringe.

"Come on Dummy," she said, "We've got work to do."

It was common knowledge these days that Ba Sing Se was as riddled with tunnels as a buzzardwasp nest. After the end of Hundred Year War when the Dai Li had been stripped of their more egregious roles and refocused as more of the empress's private spies and secret service, the tunnels fell widely out of use. With the rise of the Earth Empire, many enterprising commoners had gotten the idea to hire some earthbenders and make use of the mostly unmonitored space, which was one the reason that mecha fighting had grown as big as it had. In an effort to detach themselves from the more unsavory end of society, a group of earthbending nobles and merchants had gone through a whole bunch of effort to close up most of the tunnels connecting the Middle and Upper Rings.

While most of the tunnel networks were gone from the Middle Ring now, when the twins had been twelve Meiling had gotten the bright idea that Wei could build their own cavern beneath the house so that he could practice earthbending without disrupting the neighbors or their parents' company (both of which included a large number of Equalists). A year later the cavern turned out to be an even better place to work on building a fighting mecha in their spare time.

They hadn't used the cavern for much since they had started being able to afford their own hanger at the fighting ring and since Wei had been falling out of practice with practical earthbending in favor of metalbending. Today, it looked like the old place was going to serve a new purpose that neither of them had certainly ever guessed before.

"Home sweet hole!" Meiling chirped, her voice echoing back at them.

The place was about several stories tall and after some initial expansion had been plenty big enough to house the mecha suit and still leave enough room to get in some good bending practice. They had even been able to unearth enough underground crystals to keep the place lit with a steady green glow.

"Alright," she said, sliding down against the wall and sitting cross legged on the ground. "Let's see some firebending."

"It's not like I can just turn it off and on," Wei protested, still trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Of course you can turn it on and off," she scoffed. "You've done nothing this week but _prove_ you can turn it on and off. You just suck at controlling _when_."

"Thanks Mei, that helps a lot," he said sarcastically. "Have any other great advice?"

"Sure do!" she pointed to the opposite end of the cavern. "Do it that direction. I don't feel like getting deep fried."

There were about ten good minutes during which Wei threw his hands out in front of him a couple of times and tried to will fire to go shooting out of his fingers. At one point he got a little puff of smoke. Other than that: nothing.

"Try getting angry about it!" Mei suggested, "It worked with the bandits!"

It made sense in theory. If only Wei didn't suck so incredibly at anything and everything feelings related. He tried to recall what he had felt in that alley and emulate it, but while the memories were still fresh, he just couldn't recreate the anger that had been there. He punched the air a couple of times anyway, willing the feeling to come back to him with movement, but nothing happened except his fists sliding through empty air.

The next hour progressed in a similar fashion during which he would lash out at some invisible opponent that was not there and Meiling would offer whatever advice she could think of as a nonbender. Maybe it was because he wasn't emotionally involved? Meiling tried to irritate him with jibes and insults. Was he approaching this too much like an earthbender? He tried loosening up his stances and try different attacks than he was used to, but they had never actually _seen_ anyone firebend before, so there was no model to emulate. Maybe he was thinking too hard about it? He tried to clear his mind, but didn't have much success. All he knew was that the longer that they went at this, the more frustrated it was making him.

"This is stupid!" he said finally, sliding to the ground. "I don't even want to bea firebender! What good would it even do?"

"Well, you wouldn't accidentally set the house on fire during allergy season." Meiling pointed out.

Wei sighed and put his head in his hands. "Other than that, obviously. I mean, we're in the heart of the Earth Empire! There aren't any other firebenders around for miles! And its not like I can do anything with it unless we want the Dai Li knocking on our door!"

Meiling didn't respond immediately, which was unusual for her. Then, carefully: "Have you even considered talking to Mom and Dad?"

Wei's head shot up. "Are you insane!"

"I'll take that as a no," she sighed. He barely heard her.

"Yeah, Mei, let me just tell our Equalist parents that I'm the–that I can firebend! Two elements! That's–that's, like, twice the disappointment!"

Meiling didn't come back with a sharp retort right away, so he just let the words continue to fall from his tongue. "I mean, this whole thing doesn't make _any_ sense! I can't be a firebender–I'm barely even an _earthbender_! You heard Cheng last week–he's got the right of it!" He was breathing hard in between words, and his hands were shaking. "I can't be the _Avatar_ , Mei! I can't even get one element right, not to mention three more!"

He had said it now, for the first time. It hung in the air and dispersed all other sounds, leaving only silence in its wake. After a moment, he heard her get to her feet and then footsteps on the hard stone. A moment later, Meiling's arms were wrapped around him loosely from behind in one of those awkward sibling hugs.

"Deep breaths," she whispered, and he did his best to obey. "Everything will work itself out."

A dry laugh escaped his throat. "How? I'm not cut out for this type of thing! I'm not good at any of this. Everyone makes a big deal about how the avatar," he nearly choked on the word, "is supposed to fix everything." He stared down at his shaking hands and grimaced. "What a disappointment."

Meiling tightened her hold slightly "You are not" she whispered, "a disappointment." She murmured something else that he barely heard with her face smushed into his back. He wasn't sure he was supposed to. "That's always been my job."

He reached back and put a hand on her shoulder. They called it quits for the day.

* * *

It was the first day of the second week. Wei actually promised to keep at trying to control his firebending, but even with that Meiling was quieter on the topic than before, which was somehow even worse than her badgermoling him about it. It didn't help that the night before they had decided to brave another trip back to the Lower Ring so that they could run diagnostics on their mecha and determine how much needed to be fixed before their next match next month. Meiling was still seething about the damage that the shoulder had taken and how much work it was going to fix.

With the weekend still in full swing, the Yuan twins were coerced into helping out at their parent's restaurant, the Golden Lotus, during rush hour, which was good because then Wei didn't have to think as long as his hands were busy bussing tables while Meiling helped their mother in the kitchen and Cheng helped their father take customers' orders.

The lull between the lunch and dinner crowd hit around late afternoon, and Wei was told to sit down and take a break right as Uncle Bai walked in the front door, as he was want to do when he got off his mid-day shift on the city police force.

"Hey kid," he said, taking notice of him before Wei could decide whether he wanted to hide in the back or not. He plopped down in the seat across from him before he could make a break for it, in any case.

Bai Yuan was a gopherbear of a man. Despite being Ling Yuan's brother, he was thick and well muscled where Ling was tall and slim, and he had the kind of facial hair that could make a buffaloyak jealous while Wei's father had always maintained a clean-shaven appearance. In a way, Uncle Bai look exactly how Wei imagined the ideal earthbender would: strong, unyielding, and always like he was a heartbeat away from punching a rock in your face.

"It's been a while," Wei said awkwardly, and then mentally kicked himself.

"It has," Uncle Bai agreed, leaning back in his chair. "It wouldn't have been nearly so long if you had bothered to show up to your lesson this past week."

Wei briefly considered letting the ground split open and swallow him then and there, but he would probably mess it up and smother himself in the process. Of course then the whole firebending fiasco wouldn't be his problem any more and then…no, he was _not_ going to continue that train of thought.

"I, uh, was kind of having a rough day." he said instead. 'Rough day' meaning accidentally setting the school's lawn on fire, but his uncle didn't need to know that.

"So I've heard." Upon noticing Wei's confused expression he added, "Your father and I have been talking. He says that you've been…distracted recently."

 _Typical, Dad notices everything._ Well, everything that wasn't strictly bending related anyway. He seemed to make an effort to not get involved in that other than occasional questions about how lessons were going.

Uncle Bai sighed, "Look Wei, I'm not going to pry into your life. You're almost a man now, and your father and I both trust you to take responsibility for your own actions. But if there's ever something you want to talk about…"

"Thanks, Uncle Bai," Wei said, genuinely glad, and for a brief moment he was really tempted. The guy _was_ family after all, and if anyone was likely to not elephantrat him out, it was him. But then, the middle of his parents' restaurant during the middle of the day probably wasn't the best time or place for telling secrets. Maybe some other time, once he had this firebending thing a little closer to being figured out. "But I think I've got to figure this one out on my own for now."

His uncle nodded in understanding. "I am curious though," he said after a moment, "is there a girl involved?"

Wei, who had been leaning back in his chair, nearly lost his balance and toppled over backwards. "Wh–No! Why would that even…"

Uncle Bai threw his hands up it surrender, but he was chuckling. "Alright, alright I won't ask anymore. Oh, and your face is red, kid."

Wei felt heat in his cheeks and cursed the spirits (not for the first time) that he blushed at stupid things.

"I think I'm going to go get some air," he muttered. He tried to make as subtle an escape out of it as he could, even though he could still hear his uncle laughing as he stepped out the side door and headed towards the back.

There was a ladder in the back that led up to the roof. Mom had warned him and Meiling off of hanging out up there on multiple occasions, but sometimes it was just really nice to feel the sun on his face and get out of the view of the general populous.

(Meiling used to tell him that climbing to high places was not very earthbender-like of him and that maybe he should have been an airbender. It hadn't been funny then, and it sure as Koh was even less funny now.)

He sat with his feet dangling over the edge of the roof above one of the side streets that ran beside the building and lied back. He let his eyes close after a while–why not? He still had a good fifteen minutes before someone was likely to come looking for him, and it was one of those perfect, late spring days when it was just warm enough and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

There was a sudden weight on his chest and his eyes snapped open. When he saw the spirit sitting on top of him he debated closing them again and pretending nothing was there.

Spirits were a common annoyance in Ba Sing Se. Ever since the spirit portals had been opened almost two decades ago all of the nations had been facing their own problems with adjusting to their presence in the human world. While the Water Tribes took to thing with relative ease having lived in the more spiritually sensitive areas of the world anyway and the Fire Nation took to the problem with their usual innovativeness, the Illustrious Earth Empire…struggled in many places. And while many of the smaller provinces had figured out that if you gave spirits their respectful distance and didn't do anything special to inspire their curiosity or make them upset it was easy enough to coexist, it was often hard for a large and ancient city that was as set in its ways as Ba Sing Se to adapt and make room for creatures that by all historical accounts did not belong. There was something about the austerity of the city that seemed to agitate spirits and make them prone to mischief.

Unfortunately, for reasons that were only just beginning to become clear to Wei, the Yuan twins attracted spirit mischief. While most of the habitants of the Middle Ring might go for several days without seeing hide nor hair of spirit creatures, Wei and Meiling had a tendency to run into them regularly. When they were children their mother had seen it as a good omen, until a four-year-old Meiling had nearly followed a dragonflybunny spirit into the neighbors' pond. Meiling continued to find the spirits' attention delightful and would occasionally try to bring them home as pets as if they were stray cats, much to their parents' displeasure.

Wei didn't have time for mischief, nor did he have the energy today. The current spirit perched on his chest looked like some sort of cross between a jackalope and a common frog, and when he tried to shoo it away it hopped up and down on his chest, knocking the breath out of him a little.

"Go away!" Wei hissed. The thing finally hopped back down onto the roof as he sat up, but it didn't leave. It just stood there, staring up at him with bulging amphibian eyes, expectant.

"What do you want?" He tried asking. Not all spirits talked, but some did, so it was worth a try most of the time.

More silent staring. When Wei made to get up, though, it reached out and grabbed his sleeve with its transparent paw. _Well, great._

It made sense, he supposed, now that the whole Avatar thing had come out. Of course spirits would be bothering him–if they were right he was supposed to be the Spirit Bridge. Avatar responsibilities and all that. This was not helping his mounting headache.

"Shouldn't you be off doing, oh, I don't know, whatever it is you guys do when no one's watching?"

The spirit tugged on his sleeve again, hopped a couple of paces across the roof, and then paused, looking back a him insistently.

"Fine," he sighed. _I really can't catch a break today._ "I'll follow you." Carefully, he got to his feet and let the thing lead him to the opposite side of the roof.

The spirit stopped and jerked its head towards what appeared to be a hole where one of the roofing tiles had come loose and slid out of place, leaving a gap between the rest of the tiles and the foundation of the roof itself.

"If you think that I'm sticking my hand in there, you've got another thing coming," Wei told the spirit flatly. It cocked its antlered head at him, imploring. Sighing he crouched down and peered into the hole.

"I don't see anything," he said after a while, not that he was sure what it was he was supposed to be seeing anyway. He recalled Uncle Bai saying once that the will of spirits was mysterious and hard for humans to comprehend. Wei usually took that to mean that they were conniving little shits who liked to waste people's time.

Cautiously, he leaned in a little closer, deciding that if he didn't find anything then he was turning around and going back inside, possible Spirit Bridge duties be damned.

As his face inched closer the world suddenly got colder, and he heard a deep growling sound that made every hair on the back of his neck stand straight up. The jackalope-frog spirit bounced up and down in agitation and then made a beeline to get behind Wei. Before he could process what had caused the change, a black _thing_ darted out of the darkness and shot right at his head. In the instant that it was out in the open, Wei processed a couple of things: glowing red eyes, golden spark shooting off of a quivering form that seemed to change shapes as it moved. Angry. Very, very angry.

He didn't think. He shot up hands between himself and that hateful thing that wanted to eat his face, and fire burned.

There was a sound like metal scraping against glass and then the hateful spirit disappeared, retreating into the spirit realm. Flames danced in the air a moment longer before dying out into sparks on the tiles beneath his feet.

 _Something is very wrong here_ , he thought.

 _That's one way to learn how to firebend,_ he thought.

 _Spirits,_ _I hope no one saw that,_ he thought. Then he worried.

Three buildings over, two forms in the shadows sat staring from under wide brimmed hats with disbelieving eyes.

* * *

Nothing happened that evening. The restaurant closed two hours after sunset as usual and they all walked home as a family, chatting about the day and making careless conversation. Uncle Bai joined them for dinner and left close to midnight, and not once did he and their father get into a disagreement about politics. No strangers showed up at the door. There were no spirits found meddling about the house in dark corners. He wasn't sure which he had been expecting.

By the time Wei went to bed he was beginning to relax. He didn't tell Meiling about anything that had happened–it could wait until tomorrow during the walk to school when there would be no extra ears to hear them. Or maybe the next day would be better. Maybe he would be less shaken by then.

(Because he didn't know a lot about spirits, but he knew that there had been something deeply wrong with that one hiding in the roof. Wrong enough to make him want to earthbend himself a nice deep hole in the earth and hide there for a while.)

He had a weird dream again that night. This time there was no ice or snow but a city he had never seen before with tall metal buildings that looked much newer than anything found in Ba Sing Se. Faces flashed before his mind's eye a couple of times, but he didn't recognize them. Then there was a blinding flash of light and a noise like the world was collapsing in on itself, and he felt that cold, awful feeling again that he had on the roof before waking up in his bed, covered in sweat.

In the morning nothing unusual happened. Still no spirits and still no one claiming to have seen a boy firebending on a rooftop. They ate breakfast and went to school, and he relaxed, starting to feel like everything was going to be all right for the first time in over a week.

Two hours into classes Wei turned around to respond to some sarcastic comment Hui had made, and when he turned around two men were standing in the front of the classroom talking to their teacher in hushed tones. They were both fairly tall and wore black robes with gold trimmed sleeves. Their hair was tied back in braids, their eyes barely visible under wide brimmed hats that they had conspicuously not removed even though they were inside.

 _Dai Li._ Wei's blood froze, and all of his good feelings turned to dust.

Professor Yao nodded at something they said, and pointed right at Wei. He sunk down in his chair, but the two agents had already looked his way and spotted him.

"Wei?" Meiling whispered, just now noticing his distress. She glanced back and forth between him and the Dai Li, and her eyes widened. Her mouth turned down in a hard, worried frown and she opened her mouth to speak, but he didn't get a chance to hear whatever it was she was going to say.

"Wei Yuan?" One of the agents said, standing right in front of his desk. The class was staring at him. The whole world was staring at him, if felt like.

"Sir?" A single syllable and his voice still managed to crack on it like he was thirteen years old. There weren't many ways this could get worse.

"You're going to have to come with us."

"Um," he said, because his mind was reeling and not currently working properly, "in the middle of class?" Someone in the back snickered, and if Professor Yao hadn't been the glowing picture of proper etiquette Wei was pretty sure he would have done a most excellent facepalm.

"Yes, _now_ , Wei," their teacher said (his face was pale, and he was giving him a look of such pity that Wei thought he was going to puke), "I'll let you make up the assignment whenever you get back."

Wei got to his feet, mostly because he wasn't sure what else to do. This was bad–so, so, _so_ very much bad. One did not usually just _come back_ after walking away with the Dai Li.

On numb legs he followed the Dai Li agents to the front of the room and towards the door. Meiling looked like she was about to come over the desk after him, but he shook his head at her subtly as he passed and she sat back, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

Their footsteps echoed down the hallway behind them as they left, which was even worse than silence would have been–more final somehow.

"May I ask where we're going?" He chanced once he found his voice again.

"To the Imperial Palace." The agent on his left said, and Wei's blood froze. "You've been summoned for an audience with the Great Uniter."


	2. Tea with the Great Uniter

Chapter Two **: ** Tea with the Great Uniter

* * *

 _Wei's gone._ the thought struck Meiling as odd–out of place with the usual flow of the world. _Gone?_ That couldn't be right. They were twins. They had been a package deal since birth. They didn't go _anywhere_ alone if they didn't feel like it. To have someone barge in and forcibly take her brother awayjust felt…wrong.

There was a span of about ten minutes after the door closing behind the Dai Li during which she stared after them blankly, unable to move and mind strangely inactive for once in her life. She could feel the eyes of her classmates on her, curious and pitying. Professor Yao continued his lecture eventually. Hui was poking her shoulder, she realized numbly at some point but didn't turn her attention away from the door.

She only allowed herself those ten minutes of shock, though, and then she snapped back into the present, brain working at a hundred miles an hour again because if ever she needed a plan, it was now.

 _What am I still doing here?_ She wondered, the classroom coming back into focus around her. _I don't have time for_ school _!_

Calmly (composed as any noble lady born–Mom would be proud) she shouldered her bag, taking an extra moment to grab Wei's too because the dummy had left his behind. She stood and walked towards the door.

"Ms. Yuan?" Professor Yao said sternly, though it seemed a bit forced. He didn't look the least bit surprised or angry. "Where are you going?"

"Sorry Professor, I'm not feeling very well today," she said, and it came out sweet and sincere as any other lie she had said before…which was absurd really because everyone could guess why she was really leaving. She didn't wait for him to respond before walking out the door.

She walked down the hallway because running wasn't allowed in the academy buildings and she was still too numb to work on anything other than autopilot. The second her feet touched the front lawn outside she broke into a run and didn't stop until she reached the Golden Lotus.

Meiling slammed the front doors to the restaurant, abusing the chimes that their mother had hung above them to welcome guests. She was going so fast that she had to skid to a stop in front of the counter to avoid a collision.

"Meiling!" Their father was manning the counter in the early afternoon lull of business. "What are you doing out of school? You can't just–"

"Wei's gone!" Meiling gasped, and she had thought that her throat was only tight from being out of breath until she felt wetness dripping down her cheeks. The irritated expression on her father's face melted, leaving only confusion. "Wei's gone and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault! I–I should have _told_ you…"

"Meiling?" Their mother appeared through the doorway leading to the kitchen, holding a bowl in one hand and wiping it with the other. "What's going on?"

Both of them were staring at her, and she knew she should be doing a lot of explaining, but there was such a knot in her throat now and her shoulders were shaking for some reason. "They took him!" she finally managed, and it came out surprisingly like a sob, and she hated herself for being so discomposed when she should be doing something productive _._ "They showed up at school and they _took Wei_!"

"Calm down, dear," somehow her father had gotten around the counter and had a hand on her shoulder. " _Who_ took Wei?"

"Dai Li" she choked past the knot in her throat.

The bowl her mother had been cleaning shattered against the tile floor.

Her father's hand slid slowly from her shoulder as he stood up straight again and leveled a look at the three customers were had taken a break from their meals to stare. "My apologies," his voice was calm as the East Lake waters, right before the sea serpent could break the surface and eat your boat. "The restaurant will be closing effective immediately due to a family emergency."

One of the customers looked like he was going to make something of it, and then apparently thought better of it upon seeing Ling Yuan's face and scurried out the door with the others. Li Hua followed behind them and flipped the 'open' sign in the window to 'closed' with shaking hands before collapsing in a chair.

Meiling's father took a deep, shaking breath. "The Dai Li has our son." He grabbed her shoulders. "Mei, what _happened_? What did you two _do_?"

"It was an accident!" Meiling blurted, sobs slowing to small hiccups and mind following no logical order. "We didn't know! We got attacked on the way home even when we were _really_ careful, and there were too many of them!" she was babbling, but for the life of her she couldn't stop. "We didn't know he could _firebend_ , I _swear_ it just sort of _happened_ and I wanted to tell you, but Wei was scared, and it wasn't my secret to tell–"

"Meiling!" he father cut her off, squeezing her shoulder. There was the beginning of a wide, panicked look in his eyes, like a startled ostrichhorse. "What, by Wan Shi Tong's tail feathers, are you talking about?"

"We didn't know," Meiling repeated, a hysteric hitch creeping into her voice, "I swear we didn't know until a week ago, and I have no idea how they found out–"

"Meiling!" her mother said (nearly shouted really). Her voice had gone shrill.

"Wei's a firebender." she finally choked out. "They took him because–because he's the avatar!"

Her father–Ling Yuan who was calm as a mountain and sturdy as an oak tree–fainted dead away on the restaurant floor.

Li Hua stood slowly, staring at something far away.

"Well," she said, "we all best change out of our work clothes. I suppose we will be stopping in on the palace today."

* * *

His first view of the imperial palace was not what Wei expected.

It wasn't like he had spent much time wondering what the place looked like exactly. To most people, himself included, the imperial palace was just that large, overly ornate building in the center of the city that was probably worth more than you, your entire family, and your friends' families could ever hope to make in a lifetime. If you were lucky enough to be passing through the Upper Ring, you might get a glance at the glorious staircase leading up to the place at some point in your life, but for most people, the palace was more of an metaphorical concept hovering in the back of your mind rather than an actually physical place that people actually visited.

It wasn't exactly the building itself that surprised him. Grand entrance chambers and giant, endless corridors seeming to lead to nowhere? Yeah, that was no surprise. Elegant architecture and ornate carvings etched into every doorway and ceiling–again, no surprises there either. What he hadn't anticipated was how…bare the place felt, for lack of a better word. Sure, the place looked like it had been built for royalty, but other than the building itself everything felt eerily…empty.

 _There are no decorations._ He realized as he walked down yet another long hallway, sandwiched between the two Dai Li agents that had picked him up from school. Not a single vase stood in any corner. There were no paintings or tapestries on the walls. There were none of the telltale signs of wealth and status that one could see in any of the homes of the aristocratic members of the Upper Ring. For a grand empress, The Great Uniter was apparently not one for showing off.

 _Or maybe,_ the snide part of him wondered, _she just figures she doesn't_ need _the show of wealth to intimidate people._ Something about that made Wei's skin crawl.

Surprise number two: they didn't stop in the main throne room, which was where the empress usually received important visitors. Instead they turned and headed outside into a massive garden at the rear of the palace.

 _Well this is informal._ Wei thought, apprehension growing. Though, truth be told even surrounded by trees and ornamental shrubbery he still felt terribly underdressed, especially since he was still in his school uniform.

There was a table settled between several willow trees in the middle of the garden. Nearby an artificial stream settled into a koi pond, offering Wei a nice view of his reflection so that he could see exactly how undignified he looked. The table was set for two. One seat stood empty and was presumably meant for him.

In the other seat sat The Great Uniter, a teacup held in one hand and a lazy sort of smile on her lips, like a cat owl who had spotted a sparrowkeet.

"Presenting Avatar Wei Yuan to her Imperial Majesty Kuvira," the Dai Li on Wei's left said, and he cringed at the way they said his name. Both agents stepped back, leaving him suddenly standing alone facing the most powerful person in the entire Earth Empire and quite possibly the world.

"Do be seated, Wei," the empress invited. Mechanically he forced himself to sit down across from her, too late all of the etiquette lessons his parents had tried to pound in his head flying through his mind. Should he had bowed first before sitting down? Too late, he was already seated–should he stand up and try again? A servant that he hadn't noticed standing off to the side came and poured him a cup of tea. Great spirits, was he seriously expected to have _tea_ with Empress Kuvira? Just yesterday he was flicking rice at Cheng across the dinner table at home.

Wei told himself over and over again that it would not do to look like a quivering mess in front of the empress. Propriety was everything in these situations, and he might not have been raised learning the social graces of a noble's son, but if he could stay composed, maybe he could come out of this okay.

It took him almost an entire minute to gather enough courage to take a sip from his cup. Across the table, Empress Kuvira was serene as a summer day.

"You seem nervous, Wei," she said, and he nearly dropped his teacup.

A mix of well ingrained manners and fortunate level headedness kept Wei's voice from shaking. "Well, it's not everyday that one is fortunate enough to be invited into your noble presence, your eminence."

"Hmm, how polite," Empress Kuvira said, setting aside her cup, "but let's not bother with too much formality. I would like you to know that you are welcome to speak freely here."

 _Yeah, sure,_ he thought, and if that wasn't a deliberate invitation to hang himself then Wei was hogmonkey's uncle.

 _Politics is just one big game of Pai Sho,_ He recalled his father saying at some point when asked why he didn't try to gain any sort of position with the Equalist party, _and while some can play the game and come out unscathed, for those of us who are not intimately familiar with the rules, the only way to win is to not play._ Considering the fact that Wei had been playing Pai Sho since almost before he could read, he could recognize a master player when he saw one. Empress Kuvira, for all of her politeness, was well aware of the game being played here–this was her domain, her metaphorical board. Forget earth and metal, _this_ was the Earth Empress's true element.

And, as it stood, Wei wasn't even a player.

 _I am so incredibly fucked._

"My agents have informed me that you are of a well educated background," The Great Uniter continued, tapping an unpainted nail absentmindedly against the table, "So I am assuming you have guessed why I have requested your presence."

' _Requested'? 'Requested' my ass!_ It took a moment for Wei to swallow the lump forming in his throat and speak. "Yes, Your Eminence." Best to keep his answers short, he figured.

The Great Uniter leaned forward in her chair, "I will admit, we had been starting to lose hope. Fifteen years have passed since Avatar Korra's most unfortunate death, and when no one came forward with news of the next avatar we began to grow concerned that he had been reborn in the hands of those who would wish to see our empire destroyed." She smiled again, and it was a surprisingly gentle smile–sincere looking, even. "When my agents reported to me that our search was over, well, you cannot imagine my relief to have you sitting before me now."

 _Well at least someone is happy about all this,_ he wanted to say, but he figured sassing The Great Uniter was a great way to get your ass handed to you, avatar or not.

At his silence, Empress Kuvira sighed, "I understand this must come as a great shock to you, Wei. Finding out that you are a beacon of hope in a world on the brink of war would be hard for anyone to deal with." Her eyes softened, "I can understand your reluctance to make yourself known; you are still so young, after all."

Despite his misgivings Wei felt some of his initial apprehension ease, feeling just a little bit less like he was on trial. "I, uh, only realized a week ago," he heard himself saying. "I didn't know…"

"Of course not," the empress said, pouring herself a fresh cup. "With how early Aang and Korra mastered the elements it is easy to forget that most avatars were not made aware of their status until they were sixteen." He watched a sugar cube drop down into her cup, dissolving into the murky golden drink. "I hope you won't mind me saying, but, as one who was acquainted with Avatar Korra I believe that an earlier start does not necessarily result in better ability."

That was an…interesting comment. Was she trying to be encouraging to him or condescending of the previous avatar? "I hadn't realized that you had met Avatar Korra."

The corner of her smile tightened fractionally. Touchy subject, then. "I had the honor on several occasions. While our initial encounter in Zaofu before the fall of the 53rd Earth Queen was pleasant enough despite having to fight off four master benders, I'm afraid that we didn't see eye to eye on some of my peace keeping policies later."

 _Well great_ , the knot in Wei's stomach returned, _looks like I got on the empress's bad side before I was even born._

"I will, say, however," she continued, "that by all accounts she was a remarkable young woman, if not a little naive."

"Oh," he said, mostly because he felt like she expected him to say something, and how was one supposed to react when an empress gave your past life a back hand complement?

"But enough about all that," Empress Kuvira said, waving her hand in the air as if to banish the topic. "Tell me about yourself, Wei."

"Oh," he said again, and he had to stop himself from adding a few extra colorful terms after the exclamation. Wei had never exactly been shy, but coming from a family where drawing attention to himself (usually by accidentally bending the front stairs into a slide) more often than not made things uncomfortable for everyone involved, he tried to make a habit out of escaping notice. Bragging on himself to the Great Uniter seemed a bit counter intuitive to that purpose.

 _Just be cool,_ he tried to tell himself. _You know, just chatting it up with the Empress, but_ be cool _about it._

"I have it on good authority that you're at the top of your class," the empress prompted, because apparently she was not blind as a badgermole and could see him squirming uncomfortably.

"Number two, actually," he answered automatically, because this was an all too familiar topic. "Meiling is number one."

One eyebrow slid upward on her face. "Sounds like a sore spot."

"No!" Wei said, a bit quickly perhaps, and then he had to back track to make up for it. "I mean, it is, but, not between the two of us." And, okay, maybe he should be a little sore about being shown up, but then that would mean that he would have to care enough about school in general to get jealous over it.

The empress's eyebrow climbed a little higher at his statement, and Wei's feet started tangling together under his chair. He added, "Meiling's really smart. Not a lot of our peers are…entirely comfortable with that." Well, not all of their _male_ peers, to be specific.

The empress hummed thoughtfully, her eyebrow setting back low on her brow. "I see. It is unfortunate that…certain traditions still linger in this modern age." She sipped her tea, and a polite smile settled back onto her face. Absently, Wei remembered his own cup still lying almost untouched in front of him.

"Are you close with your sister, then?" She wondered after a moment.

"You could say that," Wei said, "I mean, we _are_ twins. We have common interests–well, for the most part." Which was perhaps not exactly true; it tended to be more that their interests happened to conveniently overlap than anything else. Wei was a wiz at research and metalbending. Meiling was a mad genius with more working knowledge of engineering than most professionals. Together they built and fought giant robot suits. Maybe it wasn't the most usual of sibling relationships, but hey, it worked for them.

"I see," she said. Her expression softened into one of deep, almost fond understanding, which was somewhere between disarming and creepy, but Wei didn't have enough time to figure out which end it came out on exactly. "It couldn't have been easy, growing up as the only earthbender in your family. Especially given your parents' political alignments."

 _Yeah, I'm thinking creepy,_ he decided. Exactly how much information had the empress had the Dai Li dig up on his family, he wondered. After all, there couldn't have been that much time for them to investigate, even though his parents didn't exactly make their political beliefs a secret. The Equalist party had risen to popularity only a couple of years after Kuvira had risen to power, and while at first many had been nervous about backlash from the empress herself for all the anti-bending sentiment, she had never publicly condemned the fledgling movement. If she had a problem with the Equalists having a revival in Ba Sing Se, she certainly hadn't brought it up before, and it would be strange to bring it up now of all times.

"Maybe it wasn't always…ideal," Wei said, choosing his words carefully, "My parents tried not to treat me any different from Meiling or Cheng, though. They didn't want me to feel ashamed of the fact that I was a bender. It was just…I don't think they ever really knew quite how to react." There hadn't been benders in their father's line for nine generations until Uncle Bai came along. Mom's family could count back even farther without finding anyone. It was a miracle that they had both taken to their son being an earthbender as well as they had, really. Now that it was out that he was the avatar…

Wei felt distinctly like throwing up.

"Your Eminence," he asked, ignoring the unpleasant feeling because information was more important right now than his own comfort, "I hate to bring it up, but have my parents been informed of my…current circumstances?" It felt like kind of a funny question to ask given that _he_ wasn't even completely aware of his current circumstances.

"Another of my agents has been sent to collect your family in the Middle Ring. I do apologize for all of this back and forth summoning, but I had hoped to have a word with you alone before discussing matters with your parents."

"I see," Wei said, even though he didn't really.

"Actually, Wei, I was wondering–since your contact with other earthbenders has been somewhat limited–how you're getting along with earthbending."

"Oh." He really needed to start forming more coherent sentences. "My uncle has been giving me lessons on and off for the past ten years."

"On and off?" That single eyebrow climbed high on her forehead again, and his cheeks heated up.

"I'm afraid I'm not the best of students, Eminence." It was the fullest truth he had given so far. Metalbending had been something fun, something he could screw around with in his free time without attracting quite so much attention. Earthbending on the other hand was…uncomfortable. Loud and demanding to be noticed where he would much rather sit quietly with a book and learn that way if he could.

"Nonsense," Empress Kuvira said dismissively. "It couldn't have been easy learning with your background, and it couldn't have been easy for your uncle to teach you on top of having a career to maintain. I bet in the right setting with the right teachers you could rise above the abilities of even your past lives."

There was something strange in her expressions at that last part, but she was so composed and the smile she gave him was so welcoming that he almost forgot it a moment later when it passed. Almost.

"Your faith in me is flattering," he said, though he doubted her enthusiasm. He had heard about what avatars could do: rending landscapes apart, churning the oceans into stormy weapons of mass destruction, standing up to the fury of erupting volcanoes… And the thing was: that wasn't him. He might be the avatar, but first and foremost he was and always would be just Wei Yuan. They could call him the avatar all they wanted, but it would still feel as new and foreign to him as waking up in a strange house when you had fallen asleep in your own bed.

But he wasn't going to tell her that. Because you didn't sit down for tea with the ruler of an empire and laugh in their face unless you wanted to end up where all of the other stupid souls who dared to insult Empress Kuvira ended up.

"I must admit that lately I grow bored in my free time," the Great Uniter continued, unaware of his doubt. "If you would like, I could work with you on your earthbending until it is up to par."

 _Oh yeah, sure, learn earthbending from the Great Uniter,_ that annoying voice in the back of his mind quipped. _What could possibly go wrong?_

"What about learning firebending?" he asked before he could think of anything better to say.

The edge of her mouth twitched downwards ever so slightly, the picture of mild dissatisfaction, "Unfortunately, finding a firebending master for you is likely to take quite some time. As it stands, most of the residence of the Fire Nation have been turned against us through rebel propaganda. In the mean time I feel it would be best not to waste time and focus your energies on improving on what you know already."

That made sense, though why he had to stay in Ba Sing Se in order to learn firebending was a bit of a mystery to him. There wasn't any _actual_ fighting going on between them and the Fire Nation after all, so why couldn't he go there? Not that he was going to question imperial authority when it was staring him down over a pot of tea.

"Oh, well, in that case," he said, even though he wanted nothing more than to crawl in a hole and hide for the next couple of months. He stood and bowed politely, hoping dearly that she couldn't see his legs shaking. "I would be honored to take you up on your generous offer."

Empress Kuvira smiled, and this time it looked just a little too sharp.

* * *

The empress excused herself shortly after the end of their discussion, called off to attend to some business elsewhere in the palace, and Wei was left contemplating over the dregs of his tea. He wasn't sure exactly how long he sat there thinking, but it couldn't have been too long because no one bother to offer to replace the pot in the center of the table with a fresh one. He guessed it had been maybe fifteen minutes when an agent entered the garden, escorting his family.

His parents were dressed elegantly–or, at least elegantly as a middle class family could afford. He could have sworn he recognized the dress his mother was wearing from the wedding they had attended several years ago. Meiling walked almost on their heels, but had the sense of propriety to not over take them, which would have been seen as disrespectful. Wei didn't recognize the stately green gown she was wearing, but recalled that she and Mom had been shopping two weeks ago for something to wear to a family friend's graduation ceremony in a couple of weeks. Cheng, who had obviously been interrupted in the middle of his classes to get dragged to the palace, was looking sour in his school robes. At least Wei wasn't the only one not dressed for the occasion.

He had stood the moment they had come into sight without realizing it, and Meiling raced ahead of their parents (so much for propriety) and nearly knocked him off of his feet in a tackle hug.

"You're okay!" she cried, probably a little too loudly given that the attendants were giving her a disapproving look.

"Ow–Mei!" he protested, but there wasn't much weight behind it. A moment later their parents wrapped their arms around both of them in a group hug, and suddenly Wei didn't care so much about the Dai Li noticing. In the warmness of his family's arms, some of is anxiety melted out of him, and he didn't feel so much like he was going to be sick any more.

Once the moment had passed and Wei was free to move again, Cheng, who was conspicuously standing just slightly aside from everyone and looking both confused and uncomfortable piped up, "So, yeah, Wei's here. That's great. Is anyone going to bother explaining anything now? Because I'm not getting much out of what's going on here." He rubbed the back of his head, disturbing his topknot and making a mess of his hair, and made eye contact with Wei. "Why does everyone in the palace seem to think _you're_ the Avatar?"

And there it was, out in the open. Their father stiffened noticeably at the word, but his hand on Wei's shoulder didn't falter, which was almost enough for Wei to believe that everything was going to be alright. Almost.

Everyone was looking at him now, as if they wanted an explanation. For once Meiling was _not_ living up to her role as the talkative one and was just giving him this prompting look, so he figured he was going to have to be the one to actually spit it out this time.

He took a deep breath, "Uh, Mom, Dad?" he said, twisting the toe of his shoe into the dirt beneath him.

"Yes son?" their father said.

"Um, so…I…" He trailed off, biting his lip as the script he had been writing in his head for the past week slipped away. And–damn it all–this was why he hadn't been eager to tell them in the first place.

Words failing, he decided to try something different and cupped his right hand in the air. Wei closed his eyes, and in the unexpected calm of the Empress's garden and his family's quiet support searched his memories for that strange _something_ that had given life to unexpected sparks. Deliberately _wanting_ to for the first time, he concentrated and a moment later a tiny flame ignited in his palm.

"Um," he said, feeling every bit as wobbly as the small tongue of fire sputtering in his hands, "so…turns out I'm a firebender."

Ling Yuan was breathing kind of shakily now, but did not let go of his shoulder. Li Hua, who was watching the tiny fire dance in her son's hand, reached out and ruffled his hair like when he was still a little kid, even if her fingers shook a little more now than they did then.

"Well then," she said, just like she had in a far off memory from when he was three years old and had torn up the front pavement in that first tantrum of unintentional earthbending, "I guess some adjustments are in order."

Cheng looked like he had been slapped with a wet fish. "Wait. _Seriously_?"

"Oh trust me," Meiling said, grinning wide as an opossumcat, "the only one more unhappy about it than you is Wei."

"Excuse me," one of the Dai Li agents still standing off to the side cut in awkwardly. Well, as awkwardly as someone who only had one flat facial expression to begin with anyway. "The Empress requests an audience with the parents of the avatar."

Their father's face grew somewhat pinched at the address. "Very well. I hope it is quite all right if my children accompany."

The agent eyed Meiling and Cheng somewhat sourly, but said nothing. Apparently Wei was too important to get the stink eye now. Or maybe it was just that he would always be thought of as _the avatar_ now before ever being thought of as someone's child. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Unlike the informal chat that Wei had been permitted not even an hour prior, his parents were received in the main throne room. As the Yuan family stood upon gleaming stone floors in the massive room facing the throne that had held fifty-three monarchs of the Earth Kingdom and now seated the first ruler of the illustrious Earth Empire, Wei felt he understood why Kuvira had thought that meeting him in the garden would be less intimidating.

From atop her throne of fine stone, Empress Kuvira looked down upon them. The benevolent smile from earlier was gone, and her expressions made different somehow by the change in scenery–less generous and more predatory.

"Ling and Li Hua Yuan, I trust," she greeted, addressing both his parents in turn. They and Cheng both bowed, and after a sideways glance at each other, Wei and Meiling quickly followed suit.

"Your Eminence," Ling Yuan said, head still bowed. "We are honored by your invitation."

"Not at all," Kuvira said, "It is an honor to finally meet the parents of the avatar."

Looking down on them from a fancy throne, she didn't seem very honored. Not that Wei was going to bring it up.

His parents shared a sideways glance, probably too quick for most people to notice. The empress caught it sure as summer.

"I'm sure it is no easy thing, finding out that your own son is the avatar," She said, "especially with the…current state of politics within our own city." There was no hint of slight or warning in her voice, but Wei felt the hidden jab. Beside him, his father stiffened ever so slightly.

"It is…surprising of course Your Eminence," Ling Yuan said, eyes still politely looking downward and away from the Empress. "However, the raising of children has never been a matter of political values but one of wisdom and good judgment. Our only regret is that we are not well equipped in providing our son with the guidance that he will now need."

Kuvira's eyes were calculating. "I had actually hoped to address concerns about Wei's access to the proper resources he will need now that his status has come to light."

 _Resources?_ Wei wondered. _What_ resources _?_ Bending instructors, sure, he could see why the Empress of the Earth Kingdom might take an interest in his learning the elements properly, at least where earthbending was concerned. He had been doing a pretty rotten job on his own, and without mecha fighting to employ his interests he probably would have let metalbending fall by the wayside too. But what other _resources_ did an avatar need? Surely it didn't take a whole palace's worth to teach him enough to move on to learn firebending.

"I'm sure that Wei is very bright and perfectly capable of learning much from home," Empress Kuvira continued, "but I fear the Middle Ring is not the safest of environments to learn some of the more complex aspects of his role as the avatar. It is my personal belief that things would work out best for Wei if his identity remains a secret for the time being."

"So you do not intend to reveal to the public that the avatar has been found?" Ling Yuan asked. From the bend of his shoulders he didn't seem very surprised.

"Wei is not even properly of age yet," Kuvira pointed out. "The avatar is a person who stands under the scrutiny of the whole world, and I don't believe that facing the pressure of all of those expectations so early on would be necessary. Perhaps when he has mastered more of the elements we could reevaluate, but for now I think it would be best to wait to reveal that Wei is the avatar."

Some of the weight on Wei's shoulders lifted. He hadn't really had much time to consider–hadn't really _wanted_ to consider–exactly what it would be like having all of responsibilities of an avatar. The thought of having the expectations of all those people make him feel sick.

"That seems reasonable," his father said, not sounding nearly as relieved as Wei might have expected. He would have thought that not having his bending son outed to all of his Equalist associates immediately might be somewhat of a relief. If his parents said that they accepted him, he believed them. But he held no illusions about the political company they kept. Whether or not they were willing to ditch their friends and associates in favor of defending their son was their own business, but it couldn't be easy being suddenly held in contempt by everyone you knew.

"I'm glad that you agree," the empress continued. "In light of this, I would like to propose that Wei carry out his studies here at the palace."

The air caught in Wei's throat, and, forgetting his manners, his head shot up and he gaped at the empress.

"Here?" he burst out, and thank goodness it just wasn't _quite_ a squeak.

"Yes, here," Kuvira said, looking directly at him for a long, tense moment before turning her gaze back to his father. "I have made your son an offer, which he has thoughtfully accepted, to personally act as his earthbending teacher for the time being. For this to occur, it makes sense that he, and your entire family if you would so like, relocate to the palace for the time being."

It was the first time Wei had ever seen his father speechless. He himself felt pretty speechless for that matter. He had been so preoccupied with not looking like an idiot that he hadn't fully considered exactly what Kuvira's offer entailed.

"Your Eminence makes a very generous offer," Li Hua, bless his mother and her unflappability, spoke up, "but how could we ever dream of intruding?"

"Nonsense," Kuvira told her. "The palace is well equipped to house guests and privileged family members. There is more than enough room for you all." Of course there was. With the other nations currently not feeling very charitable towards the Earth Empire and it being no secret that the empress had no surviving family, Wei couldn't imagine that the private wing of the palace would have many permanent occupants.

"What about school?" Meiling piped in. Of course she would wonder about school.

Kuvira met her gaze. Meiling didn't seem nearly as bothered by it as Wei had been. Surprisingly, the empress did not appear irritated to be addressed out of turn by a fifteen-year-old girl. "Wei tells me that you're a very intelligent young lady. I would by no means want to separate you from your peers, but if you wouldn't mind the change in scenery I can assure you that there would be no trouble finding the best of tutors in the city."

Meiling looked thoughtfully down at her shoes for a moment, then grinned. "I suppose I could live with that, Your Eminence."

A shaky smile for her daughter's boldness found its way to their mother's face. Their father, however, was expressionless. "If my family gives their consent, then I am hardly one to argue." he said, and then shot a sideways look at Wei.

"Wei," he said, "as the one who would be benefitting most from the Empress's offer, it's your decision in the end. We will go with whatever you decide."

Like this day hadn't had pressure enough already. Looking into his father's eyes, Wei could tell that he wasn't happy about the idea. Having your son be the avatar was one thing. Being asked to rub elbows with governments officials on a daily basis was quite another. Then again, it was pretty apparent here that there wasn't really much of a choice to be made. The empress had left him free to choose, but he had already agreed to learn earthbending from her. He could protest that he didn't want to leave his home, but reason he gave would only sound like a childish attachment to his life in the Middle Ring, which obviously was never going to be the same again no matter what he chose. In the end, it wasn't really much of a choice at all.

For the second time that day, Wei bowed and yielded yet another portion of his old life to the Empire. Worse yet, now his family's lifestyle was being dragged along with him.

"Your Eminence," he said somehow without his voice breaking, "we gladly accept your offer."

* * *

Wei got his own room at the palace.

Having his own space wasn't a new thing to him; he had had his own room at home, after all, so being assigned his own courters in a place where there was probably enough free space to house half of the homeless people of the Lower Ring was no surprise.

The fact that the 'room' he was given was more of a small apartment complete with a sitting area and garden access, however, was throwing him a bit.

"You are our most honored guest," the woman escorting him and his family–Joo Li, or something close to that– said as he stood gaping in the doorway, "please, let us know if there is anything we can do to make you more comfortable."

He made some kind of vague squeaking sound, which the lady seemed to take for an 'okay' before guiding his family to their own rooms.

"Hopping hogmonkeys," he said to no one in particular, "what am I going to do with all this space?"

At the current moment there was no unpacking to be done. The empress had sent some servants to their house in the Middle Ring to retrieve any clothes or other items that they asked for, and in the meantime they were meant to be settling into their surroundings. Upon inspection, Wei discovered a closet on the far side of his bedroom that was about as big as his old bedroom back home and held several changes of fancy court robes that probably weren't his size. Better yet, back in the sitting room he discovered a bookshelf.

The books on the shelf were mostly political commentaries on major historical events, mostly set in the time of the earth monarchy, though there was one recording the rise of the Earth Empire. He also managed to find a book of Kyoshi era poetry and an atlas of the four nations. Some of his discomfort about the day eased.

About an hour later a knock on the door came, and a serving lady opened the door to find him sprawled out on the floor surrounded by an array of books in a most undignified manner.

"So sorry for the interruption," she said, though obviously she wasn't sorry enough not to stare.

Wei jolted upright, feeling his face heat up. "Um, not at all!" She was younger than the woman who had escorted him, and he didn't know her name.

"I have been sent to inform you that dinner will take place in an hour," she said, bowing politely. "Is there anything that you require in the meantime?"

"Uh…" This was weird. Wei wasn't used to being waited on. But on the other hand… "Is there a library in this place?" He couldn't really see her face, but he thought he saw her lips curl into a smile.

Half an hour and a journey across the palace later, he and the serving girl, and some poor other serving guy that they had interrupted from running errands were walking back to his room with three stacks of books from the royal library.

Okay, so maybe being the avatar had some perks. Maybe he could get used to this.

Dinner began promptly another half hour later and was a relatively small affair. Unsurprisingly the empress did not join them and instead left him and his family to dine on their own in one of several palace dining rooms just as a family. With just the five of them sitting at a table that easily could have seated twelve, the whole affair felt more than just a little bit ridiculous to Wei. Even so, it was a relief to have time alone with his family after such a day. Well, alone if you didn't count the serving staff.

"My," his mother said a pleasant smile on her lips, "What a change to be waited on for once."

His father, made a noncommittal noise as one of the servants filled his glass, starting at the far wall with an expression that showed that he was clearly lost to the world.

Cheng was tugging at the collar of his shirt awkwardly, eyes darting to the different dishes presented in the center of the table, clearly unsure of what table manners he was supposed to follow. After a couple of moments, he seemed to throw caution to the wind and started serving himself off of every dish within polite reach.

Meiling seemed to be the only one comfortable in her place and was sipping calmly on her drink.

"You know," she said, winking at him across the table, "I could get used to eating like this. Nice job, bro."

Wei rolled his eyes. "Oh you're welcome. Obviously I acquired three more elements just so that my sister could have nice things."

Meiling grinned. "See Cheng, this is why Wei is my favorite brother."

Cheng nearly choked on a noodle, but otherwise didn't seem inclined to give a response.

"Speaking of newly acquired elements," their mother said lightly, and Wei knew he was in trouble, "when exactly _were_ you planning to tell your poor mother about learning firebending, Wei?"

Wei felt his cheeks heat up and had to stop himself from ducking his head like an embarrassed five year old. "Um…when I figured out how to not accidentally set the drapes on fire?"

Cheng's head shot up, "Wait, that was _you_?"

 _Oops_. Li Hua looked scandalized. Cursing himself internally, Wei stuffed his mouth with food in an effort to avoid having to talk.

"I suppose I should have been suspicious," their father spoke up for the first time, looking only slightly more present. "You two were being awfully quiet last week."

"I'm still confused," Cheng said thoughtfully. "When did you find out you could firebend?" He stabbed his chopsticks in Meiling's direction accusingly. "You were asking weird questions that one morning, so around then?"

Meiling only smiled. "Oh don't ask me. It's Wei's business after all."

"Oh sure, _now_ you back off," Wei deadpanned. "Now that we're eating dinner at the damn _palace_."

"Hmm," Meiling smiled, "I suppose I have nothing left to gain from exposing you."

Wei briefly considered throwing a grape at her face. Then he remembered that the plates they were eating off of were probably worth more than their entire house and reconsidered his table manners.

"Seriously, though," Cheng cut back in, "how did you find out?"

Under most circumstance, Wei considered ignoring anything Cheng asked a viable option. Given the fact that both of his parents were now looking at him expectantly, that was probably not an option here.

"Um," he said, because there was no way he was telling his parents that he was a back alley mecha pilot. Though in retrospect, now might be a better time than any given that he was pretty sure he had ascended to become ungroundable, but that was a thought for later. "I, uh, got angry at someone."

Their father raised a pencil thin eyebrow at him. "That seems…unusual for you."

Meiling sniffed, seeming more miffed about the subject than anything else, though Wei could tell from her eyes that she was still angry about the memory. "Yeah, well, the guy deserved to be firebent at."

Ling Yuan's other eyebrow climbed up to join the other. "You firebent _at_ someone." The _'I though we taught you not to bend at people'_ accusation hung in the air heavily.

"I didn't hurt him!" Wei protested, which was probably true. He didn't remember a whole lot of details, but he was pretty sure that Baldy had gotten out without any burns. He could not at all vouch for the other guys that had jumped them.

"He did it to defend my maidenly honor, if it makes you feel any better." Meiling added, still eating her food like they were calmly discussing the weather.

"Since when did my children get into fights on the way home from school?" Their mother lamented, and Wei was thrown for a minute before realizing that _of course_ she would assume that this had all happened on the way home from school because there was no other time in their daily schedules when it could have logically happened, from her point of view.

"Since jerks started giving us a hard time on the way," Meiling told her simply. "By the way, are we going to have to go clothes shopping now that we live in the palace? Because I've always wanted to go shopping in the Upper Ring!"

Wei stared at his sister and wondered exactly how much of this simple acceptance was an act to throw their parents off from finding out about their illegal hobbies and how much was genuine not giving a damn. Either way, he kind of wished he could lie and make it look that easy.

"Are we seriously not going to talk about the fact that Wei's the avatar and we're living in the palace?" Cheng asked, though he didn't seem uncomfortable about the fact enough to give up on eating.

Their father sighed. "It's been such a long day. Maybe over breakfast we can ponder any irony, but in the meantime I've got to think of someone to fill in at the restaurant for a while"

Cheng pursued his lip, "But, doesn't this, like, complicate things?"

Their father sat his cup down heavily on the table, and everyone in the room visibly jumped. "Yes, Cheng," he said, voice strained, "this does indeed complicate things. We don't what this new development means for your brother or how long we're going to be here for, which complicates schooling and working for all of us. We will all probably fall under scrutiny from the public eye once the empress decides to speak out about Wei being the avatar. We will likely be rejected by the political community for the fact that your brother was born as the reincarnation of the world spirit regardless of the fact that none of us were aware of this until recently. We will all probably have to make adjustments in our lives that will be uncomfortable and put us into situations that we are thus far ill equipped to deal with. _None_ of this matters, however, because, even though I'm sure that the next couple of years are going to be a complete political _nightmare,_ we are going to face this as a _family,_ and I refuse to hear any suggestion to the contrary."

He paused, took a deep breath, leveled a look at Cheng, and continued. "I know how you feel about politics son. You are young and passionate and are looking for a cause to fight for. But I feel that some reminding is in order that, regardless of what your professors at the university are spouting from the shelter of their lecture halls, the Equalist movement was meant to protect the rights of those without the benefit of bending, not to persecute those who happened to be born with it."

You could have heard a pin drop in the vacuum of conversation that followed. Even the servants seemed to be holding their breaths.

"That's not what I meant," Cheng said feebly after a moment, looking almost afraid to speak.

Their father sighed, and in that moment looked as if the weight of the entire world was on his shoulders. "I know, son. It's been a hard day for all of us, but we _will_ get through this. Even if it takes some…adjustments."

The words were meant to be mostly encouraging Wei knew. He told himself that over and over as he slumped in his chair and tried not to suffocate from his guilt.

* * *

His first earthbending lesson was early morning two days later. He was summoned to one of the back courtyards, this one completely barren of any features except for the rocky ground, which made Wei think that the empress must use it for practicing on her own. There he was greeted by Empress Kuvira. She was accompanied by a short, round-faced man who was obviously too well dressed to take part in his lesson and a taller man with solid broad shoulders dressed in a standard military uniform who looked incredibly unimpressed when Kuvira introduced him as the avatar.

"While I am more than qualified to teach you earthbending, I felt it prudent to bring in some outside help when it comes to the other aspects your avatar training," she explained, and then nodded to the shorter of the two men. "This is Master Liao, Ba Sing Se University's top expert on the Spirit World and all things spirit related."

Master Liao bowed deeply, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Avatar Wei."

"Uh…yeah," Wei said, returning the bow. He was awkwardly aware of the fact that his brother would probably kill for an opportunity to work one on one with a professor so renowned.

"Master Liao has been hired–under a strict code of silence, of course–to provide you with guidance for you spiritual role as the avatar. I feel that meeting with him each evening would be a good way of getting to know each other and begin learning what you will need to know, if you have no objections.

Wei readily offered his thanks and affirmation that he had no problem with the situation proposed. It had only been three days, but already he was starting to see a trend forming of quick and easy agreement when the empress was involved. That was…not a particularly comforting thought.

To be honest, the thought of incorporating an intimate study of all things spirit related was not giving him any particularly warm or fuzzy feelings either. The fact that it was highly unlikely that the guy teaching him has ever actually left the city since the empress's ascent to the throne was not raising his hopes on the situation either. Not that he was going to complain about any of this. _Just smile and nod for now. Think about it later._

"This is General Nianzu," the empress motioned to the stone-faced man in uniform. "His job from here on is to educate you in recent and current international affairs, politics, and tactical thinking."

General Nianzu bowed to him, though not nearly as low as Master Liao had.

"It's a pleasure," he said with the dispassionate tone you might use to tell someone their shoe was untied.

"Of course," Wei said, giving an equally shallow bow back because he figured he could probably get away with it.

"General Nianzu and I were thinking that regular meetings in the afternoon would be a good time for your lessons."

"Of course, Eminence." _Its not like I have anything else to fill my schedule since you took me out of school._ Which, actually, was a thought worth considering, now that he actually thought about it.

As soon as his new teachers were dismissed and out of earshot, Wei chanced asking, "Um, Eminence, what about my regular school studies."

Kuvira looked almost surprised by his question, but thankfully not angry. "With the amount of time that your avatar training is likely to take up, I figured you wouldn't want to pile regular school work on top of that."

 _Bending in the morning, politics at noon, spirits in the evening_ , sure it sounded like a full schedule when put that way, but surely his lessons wouldn't take up more than an hour or two each. He might be the avatar, but he still only had the attention span of a fifteen-year-old.

"It would be bad to fall behind in my studies though, wouldn't it?" It was a risky move to question the empress, but she _was_ the one who tried to insist on open conversations. _And after all, she was the one who wanted to wait for me to be older to get involved with politics._

The empress looked pensive. "We have hired a private tutor for your sister; you are, of course, welcome to return to your regular studies with her if you want. I can't force you to follow my advice."

"I'm not trying to back out," Wei told her quickly–because that last part was ostrichhorse shit and they both knew it. "I'm just a bit confused. I thought that I had a couple years before I was supposed to get involved with politics. Shouldn't I wait to master diplomacy until after I master, like, algebra or something?"

The empress's eyes softened into a look of almost pity, and inexplicably Wei's skin began to crawl.

"Oh Wei," she told him, "I wish the world was a kind place and that life were so easy as to go as planned. I'm sure that you learned in school that the other nations are not feeling quite charitable at the moment."

"Uh, yeah," Wei said, "the Fire Nation doesn't like that they lost their foothold on the Earth Empire land they acquired from the Hundred-Year War, right?"

"That is true. Unfortunately, it is just the tip of the iceberg. Ever since we managed to reclaim the land taken from us after the Hundred-Year War, the Fire Nation has threaten violence in order to retake it. For the past fifteen years we have sat on the brink of war–every time I move to defend our boarders, the Firelord and her council call it an aggressive maneuver and threaten to attack us. Funds have been diverted to improve military technology in order to keep up with the Fire Nation's own developments just so that we can counter any attack that might come, but any constructions on our parts are seen as preemptive weapon stocking and they redouble their efforts in retribution."

She brought a hand to her forehead, a gesture that made it seem like she was trying to ward off bad memories. "I wouldn't be so worried about this arms race we have fallen into if it weren't for the fact that I lost my top scientist many years ago, and an equal for him has yet to be found."

Wei shuffled his feet awkwardly, wondering how smart a man must be in order to be considered irreplaceable to the woman who had command over most of the people currently inhabiting the world. He wondered what she would do if she ever found out about Meiling.

"Do you understand, Wei?" the empress asked. "This is not a fact we actively advertise to most of the citizens of our nation–we wouldn't have anyone to needlessly panic. However, since the Water Tribes have refused to offer any political support we are left in a dangerous stalemate." She looked him in the eye, and, ridiculously, Wei felt like her gaze was piercing his soul. "The Fire Nation has already made it clear that they will not negotiate with me or my people. Our only remaining hope is that a third party may intercede and convince them to consider peace."

"A third party like the avatar," Wei realized and then almost screamed because the thought of him playing diplomat for the four nations when he could barely turn out a decent essay on the history of the Earth Empire rail system was crazier than skinny dipping in the Serpent's Pass.

Kuvira quite obviously didn't notice his distress, or if she did didn't think it worth acknowledging. "I'm glad that you understand. I would love nothing more for you to learn everything you need to in a safe environment without the pressure of a time constraint, but the truth is, we don't know how long it will be until the Fire Nation decides to take action. And with the technology they have built again us, I fear to think what the outcome would be for our people."

 _I fear to think what the outcome would be for_ me _._ Wei realized, because if the empress expected him to walk into the Fire Nation during a military confrontation to play diplomat with _maybe_ a couple of years of political studies under his belt, she had another thing coming.

"But enough talk about all of this," Kuvira told him firmly. "You will have plenty of time to learn about our political standings when you meet with General Nianzu. Right now, you are here for earthbending."

So he was, Wei realized. He had managed to get the empress off on a tangent for at least five minutes. Quietly, he filed that information away for later should he ever need to stall.

A moment later and Wei didn't have a spare moment to think of anything because there were rocks being thrown at his head, and he was rolling across the courtyard like his life depended on it.

There were a few things he noticed quickly about the empress's bending. First observation: she was fast. Like, deadly fast, and Wei was pretty sure she was holding back on him in order to keep him alive. The lady could punch off shards of rock at a rate that would have made a firebender jealous of her sheer tenacity. Pretty soon Wei realized that he was spending most of his time running and zero of his time forming a plan of attack like he was used to with Uncle Bai.

Second observation: Kuvira never bent more than she needed to. Wei didn't watch a whole lot of earthbenders work, but from what he knew there was quite a bit of the quantity versus quality approach; earthbenders tended to throw bigger punches, bend larger chunks of rock than were strictly necessary for taking down opponents–it was pretty hard to miss the spiderfly you were trying to crush when you were swatting at him with a boulder the size of a satomobile. The empress, on the other hand, was very efficient, tending to bend smaller shards of rock to aim at him and sliding the ground immediately underneath his feet a fraction rather than upending the entire courtyard just to trip him up. Part of his mind was supremely impressed. The rest was supremely not wanting to die and was too busy dodging to care about finesse.

By the time a full minute had passed, Wei had spent more time on the ground or ducking out of the way of the empress's attacks than not and had yet to launch any sort of counter attack.

"Don't be shy, Wei!" Kuvira called in a not-exactly-mocking but also not-exactly-encouraging tone. "Give me your best shot!" This was followed almost immediately by a volley of rocks to the face when he tried to slide into a solid bending stance and nearly got pummeled.

"Think on your feet, Avatar!" He heard, and wondered just how much she was actually enjoying this.

Third observation: Kuvira was not metalbending at him. It was common knowledge in the Earth Empire that just as the sun rose in the east and elephant koi swam in the sea, Kuvira was the scariest metalbender on the planet. So why wasn't she using that to her advantage?

 _Because this is training?_ It seemed like a pretty obvious answer, Wei thought, as he managed to punch a rock at the empress–no, his _earthbending instructor_ 's head and got hit by a fist sized rock in the gut with enough force to send him sliding across the yard. But that didn't seem quite right.

 _Maybe she doesn't want to actually hurt me?_ The throbbing of his stomach told him otherwise. Quickly as he could manage while trying not to puke, Wei climbed to his feet. Kuvira stood across the yard from him, hands locked behind her in a considering pose.

 _Idiot_ , he realized, this was his first ever lesson with Empress Kuvira. _What's the first thing a new teacher does?_

"Your dodging skills are pretty good," Kuvira called from where she stood, looking smug.

Wei let out an irritated huff of air. She was sizing him up then, feeling out where his earthbending skills were at.

 _She's not avoiding metalbending to avoid hurting me_. _She's doing it because she doesn't think I can metalbend back!_

In the blessed wisdom of retrospect, Wei knew that Kuvira's assumption made perfect sense; here was a kid raised by Equalists who knew next to nothing about bending and who wasn't exactly motivated to keep up bending on his own. There was absolutely no logically legal reason for him to pursue metalbending when he was nowhere near mastering earthbending in its original form. There was also no reason for him to reveal the fact that he could do so now.

Wei had never felt the need to be recognized as a metalbender. If it weren't for the cash reward and the fact that mecha fighting was, well, fun, he probably would have given it up a long time ago. So, he for the life of him couldn't have explained what came over him at that moment that caused him to do what he did.

(Later Meiling would listen to his rambling patiently, and, without breathing a word, ponder how her brother, who was a _part_ - _time mecha fighter_ , had never realized that he could be a competitive asshole sometimes.)

There was no metal easily accessible in the practice yard, most likely because the empress didn't expect to use any. Wei couldn't help but noticing that the old uniform that the empress had decided to wear to practice, however, had metal shoulder pads, designed for use in combat situations.

Before the empress could snap out of her relaxed observation of him, Wei whipped out a hand and pulled at all the metal plates on the empress's uniform, separating them from the cloth. Too fast for most people to react, Wei bent the plates into several long shards and aimed them towards Kuvira's face. The projectiles were stopped forcibly before they could make contact, hovering centimeters from the empress's face, but in the millisecond that the metal hung in the air before her, Kuvira's eyes widened fractionally–the first visible sign of surprise he had seen her give.

Several Dai Li agents appeared out of nowhere, and it dawned on Wei belatedly that, training or not, one did not simply attack The Great Uniter, but before they could do more than twitch in his direction Kuvira had waved them off.

"You're a metalbender," she said. The smug look was not gone from her face. If anything, it had grown more prominent.

"Uh, yes Eminence," he said, because he had to say something, and he couldn't exactly take back the evidence now.

With a flick of her wrist, Kuvira had bent the metal pieces back into shoulder pads harmlessly. The considering look that she leveled at him a moment later, however, was far from harmless.

"I suppose I underestimated you, Avatar," she said. When she looked him in the eye he felt like she was seeing someone else entirely.

* * *

Despite the empress's words about not wanting to over-work him, Wei was kept so busy in the days that followed that he didn't have much time to think too hard about what had transpired during his first lesson. Earthbending practice took place every morning without fail at the same relentless pace as the day Kuvira tested him. Each morning the empress would run him through warm ups and introduce him to new forms before thrashing him up and down the courtyard until he was nearly too tired and sore to move. They only paused occasionally when his form was so obviously wrong that she made him correct it. Unlike the first day she never held back on using metalbending again and even provided some scraps of metal to be left in the practice area for his own creative use. This was good in that it gave Wei a chance to actually get a couple shots in on his own but bad in that as good as he was, Kuvira was still far ahead of him skill-wise. It didn't take long for him to regret his decision to reveal his hidden talent.

"You can't hesitate with metalbending," she told him one day, as he lied on the ground with both his hands and feet cuffed. "It isn't like earth–its much more flexible. For a true master of metalbending, the only limit is your imagination."

As she spoke she bent the cuffs off of him and twisted them together into a small statue resembling a paper eelswan. Just as Wei was marveling at the craftsmanship, she curled her fingers into claws and the metal shifted into a lethally sharp dagger instead. "In a fight, quick thinking and imagination can be enough to take down even a master bender."

They never ran through any meditations like Uncle Bai had always insisted upon, no matter how bad Wei proved to be at them. A lot of the older, more complex bending forms he had been taught were ignored in favor of more modern, simpler movements that felt unfamiliar but obviously contributed to Kuvira's unusual speed. Despite the practicality something inside Wei cringed at the method.

Wei went to his meetings with Master Liao and General Nianzu as guided despite his lack of enthusiasm. Master Liao's lessons on spirit behavior were almost as boring as Wei had anticipated, and he realized quickly that most of the knowledge that Liao was working with was based on ancient texts and philosophy from before the opening of the spirit portals and conflicted with some of the spirit behavior Wei had observed just from his childhood. Despite both these lessons and several trips to the royal library, he had yet to find anything explaining the malicious spirit he had encountered back his parents restaurant.

And, Wei couldn't help but notice, as much as Kuvira and Master Liao seemed to be emphasizing spirit stuff, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of any sort of spirit creature since setting foot on palace grounds. It was an absence that no one seemed to think worth commenting on, but it felt _wrong_ somehow to him, like missing a tooth. It was setting him on edge.

Talking politics with General Nianzu was, oddly enough, more along his lines of interest than spiritual education. Despite the fact that Nianzu obviously wasn't excited about teaching him, Wei wasn't bad at the thinking exercises that he was put through and was able to master the war games Nianzu had him play without much trouble.

With his newly designed avatar duties occupying his time, Wei didn't see much of his family. Cheng had apparently been permitted to return to attending his university classes so long as he remained silent on the topic of where he was living for the time being. Their parents were able to bring in some extra staff to keep the restaurant running in their absence and their father was occupying most of his time in the library. Meiling had her own studies to focus on, and other than meals Wei didn't really see her much since their rooms weren't very close. In fact, all of his family members had been placed on a separate ends of the palace from him, which made it difficult to interact with anyone unless he actively sought them out.

Wei didn't really have the extra time to consider much about these changes in lifestyle, and before he knew it a month had come and passed.

There was still no word about finding him a firebending teacher.

By this point, weird dreams didn't really come as a surprise to him anymore. The dreams he had while living at the imperial palace were more…vivid, somehow. Fewer flashes of feelings and images and more like a smooth flow of events. One night, for instance, he dreamed that he was kneeling before a man in a white mask with a red circle on the forehead standing over him with his thumb outstretched, like he was going to touch him. As the masked man pressed his thumb to Wei's forehead, he felt such a wave of fear that he woke himself up, heart racing and sweat drenching his body. Another time Wei dreamed that he was choking, air being pulled out of his lungs and swirling in a ball of airbending around his head mockingly just out of reach as he coughed and choked. A couple of times while drifting in that space between dreams and wakefulness, he could have sworn he saw the empress herself. To his tired mind, she always looked younger for some reason, and she was never without that smug expression he had only actually seen on her the once.

"I don't understand it," he confessed to Master Liao one evening. "I've never really had nightmares before. Not even when I was little."

"Maybe they're not just nightmares," Master Liao suggested. "As the avatar, you have access to all of the memories of your past lives. Perhaps a previous avatar is trying to tell you something."

That did not make him feel any better about the situation. If all of these dreams were memories from past avatars, well…it sure seemed like his past selves ended up facing their own death a lot. And even aside from all that, something wasn't adding up.

"I'm not even sure that some of them are from past lives though. I mean, last night I had this dream that I was in this huge fight with Empress Kuvira. Like, not the sparring kind. We weren't in Ba Singe Se, and she looked kinda…different. Like, younger maybe? Anyways, I swear the entire empire's military was in the background, just _standing_ there–"

"Well, now," Master Liao cut in, about five octaves higher than usual, "that's just ridiculous! Of course not _all_ dreams necessarily hold special spiritual meaning; sometimes dreams are simply dreams. Perhaps your regular sparring with the empress is starting to become too stressful for you and your subconscious mind is reflecting that. If you would like I could suggest to the empress that you back off on some of your exercises."

"Uh," Wei said–because he knew frantic backtrack when he heard it. "That's not…that won't be necessary." He debated calling the man out, but Liao looked to uncomfortable at the mention of his dream of the empress that it was kind of freaking Wei out.

In the end, he decided to let it slide, but he made sure not to bring that particular dream up to his teacher again. Not even after the second and third times it occurred. By the fourth and fifth time the same dream cropped up he accepted it as an unfortunate recurring nightmare and shoved it to the back of his mind.

With spring drawing to a close and summer stretching into wakefulness, Wei was beginning to grow impatient with earthbending. It wasn't that he wasn't progressing (it was hard not to progress when he had barely had any skills in the first place) but more that firebending had never fully left his mind. Despite coming to terms–well at least on some level–that he was indeed the avatar, he had still managed to singe several bushes in the imperial garden and almost blasting a hole in the wall of the practice courtyard when he reacted without thinking to some of the empress's attacks during practice, and he was getting no better at controlling the outbursts.

He made the mistake of bringing it up at practice one day, and Kuvria very nearly bit his head off.

"I told you not to worry about it!" she snapped. "Don't you think I have everything under control?"

"Of-of course, Eminence!" Wei said, bowing before he could think to do anything else, because _Great Spirits of the Earth_ , the look on her face was _not_ friendly.

Kuvira's eyes narrowed. "Why are you in such a hurry to get to learn from the Fire Nation? Your earthbending is beginning to improve quite nicely. Wouldn't you rather master that first?"

"Of course, Eminence." Wei repeated. He didn't need the political training to know that she was not in a mood to be contradicted. "It was only a passing curiosity."

The empress let the comment slide, but for days afterward Wei could feel her heavy gaze on him constantly throughout their lessons.

"I've heard you've been asking about a firebending teacher." General Nianzu told him at their lesson two days later. By now he had managed to lose most of his frown when talking to Wei, though he still didn't seem very happy to be there.

"I was only curious," Wei lied.

Nianzu sniffed disapprovingly. "It would be best for now to put away such curiosities and focus on the here and now. It would be foolish to pursue studies in the Fire Nation as it stands–a firebending master would sooner punch a fire ball through your head just for being from the Earth Empire. Your Avatar status wont protect you from prejudice. There are enough problems trusting our own citizens these days without having to worry about bringing in a foreigner to train you."

Wei couldn't help himself. "What do you mean, our own citizens? Surely no one would go against the empress?"

Nianzu stroked his beard pensively. "Hmm, I hadn't thought to bring it up yet. No need to worry you when you're here in the safety of the palace…In the past two years it has come to the attention of the empress that there may be rebels present in some of the provinces. Zaofu and our newly reclaimed lands were always a bit wild, mind you, but intelligence we have gathered indicates that a group of upstart criminals have been spreading lies about the empress in order to stage an uprising."

"Why would they do that?" Wei asked.

"It is mostly likely a scheme to grab power. While it is obvious that they are no nearly strong enough to stand up to the government, you never know what lengths these radical types will stoop to. Why do you think the empress is so reluctant to announce you, boy? If the rebels knew we had found the avatar, they would to everything in their power to kidnap you and poison you against the empire. Or worse, kill you and wait for the next avatar to come of age and lead their resistance."

Inwardly Wei was musing what the difference exactly would be between him being captured and used as a figurehead by rebels or staying where he was and playing diplomat for Kuvira as far as his own mental wellbeing went. Either way, he held no illusions that he was free to move on his own in any capacity.

 _Am I okay with that?_ he wondered.

From a purely moral standpoint, as long as Kuvira's cause was the one more in the right, he shouldn't have a problem working with her. If the rebels were more in the right, then the logical thing to do would be to cut contact at earliest convenience and switch sides instead.

The problem was, Wei had learned just enough at this point to know that he needed more information on what was going on between the Earth Empire and the Fire Nation and why the Fire Nation had a problem with them. And the thing was, Wei was beginning to think that he was right to want to stay out of the political scene to begin with.

In fact, if it was a matter of what Wei wanted and not a matter of what was expected of the avatar, Wei honestly wanted nothing more than to shed himself of this entire situation and find some place far, far away to dig a hole for himself to hide in until things blew over.

Because, just because he had finally resigned himself to the fact that he was the avatar didn't mean he was resigned to putting up with all of this political crap for the rest of his life.

 _I need to talk to someone._ He decided. He had always been bad at sorting things out in his head without someone to bounce ideas off of. And at the current moment, there was only one person he trusted enough to speak his mind to.

* * *

At the end of the week, Wei was finally able to get some free time and managed to get permission to go on a walk with Meiling. He nearly panicked when the Dai Li insisted he have an escort.

"Why?" he asked, and he didn't have to fake the childish worry in his voice, "I thought the empress said I was free to do as I pleased. Have I done something wrong?"

The Dai Li agent hesitated, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"We aren't going far," Wei hedged. "Just a walk around the Upper Ring. Surely there wont be any trouble if we stay close to the palace." This was what he was counting on. Kuvira had loudly promised him that he was a trusted guest and was welcome to leave if he chose. And, while Kuvira probably knew that he knew that that was ostritchhorse shit, there were appearances to be kept up. Like Nianzu had said, if word got out that the avatar was being kept in the Imperial Palace, especially against his will…well, if there really _was_ a problem with rebels, it probably wouldn't take long for someone to take action.

 _And would being kidnapped by rebels really be that bad?_ With the intensity Kuvira had been showing during his earthbending practice these days, Wei was beginning to wonder. It was like the woman was obsessed with getting him to master earthbending, if nothing else to keep him from thinking about pursuing firebending. He was starting to think that maybe people had it backwards, and that Kuvira was the one people should be concerned about.

Which was the real reason that he had dragged Meiling out of the comfort of her rooms for a stroll around the wealthiest part of the city.

They chatted pleasantly for the first fifteen minutes as they walked past the rows of government offices surrounding the palace. Meiling asked how he was doing with earthbending. Wei lied and then asked how her studies were going. Meiling made some noncommittal noises and then proceeded to complain about how there were no available televisions or radios in the palace and she couldn't get enough time off to go see any Movers in town. Without mecha unit maintenance keeping her occupied she was obviously beyond bored.

They walked past the last office building on the street and off into a small field that separated the business offices from the nobles' residences, and the fake smile dropped off of Meiling's face.

"We're being followed." It wasn't a question.

"At least three Dai Li." Wei confirmed. Despite any personal feelings about the empress, he really had improved at earthbending enough to sense where people so long as they were within a couple of yards. Though, even if he hadn't been able to sense them following he would have assumed they were there anyway.

Meiling tugged on one of her braids, a gesture that had been suspiciously absent since they had moved to the palace, along with her favorite hat. "Only to be expected I guess, Mr. Avatar."

He nearly shoved her, but then remembered that even if the Dai Li couldn't hear them from this far, they would still be watching.

"What did you want to talk about?" Meiling asked, because she wasn't stupid.

Wei worried his bottom lip, "I've…kind of been getting a bad feeling lately. Well, a lot of bad feelings actually, about being stuck here. And, I know you haven't seen Kuvira up close and personal as much as I have, but…" he hesitated, even now, "do you think, maybe…she might be…just a little bit–"

"Crazier than a lemur on cactus juice?" she suggested dryly.

He had to stop himself from glancing around reflexively. They were in the middle of the field now with no one else in sight. It was impossible for them to be overheard. "Well, I was going to say 'abrasive' but, well…"

Meiling slowed her pace ever so slightly–the Dai Li probably wouldn't even notice. "Yeah Wei, I don't need to be rubbing elbows with the lady to tell she's taken an eelswan dive off the deep end of the _insane_ pool."

"But," Wei said, heart beating fast now that it was all laid out in the open, "it's not even like she's _crazy_ crazy. She acts like a reasonable person, she's just…"

"Lacking any form of chill," Meiling suggested.

"…Driven." Wei finished. "I think she legitimately believes in what she's doing. The way she talks, I think she really wants me to agree with what she's doing too. Or well, probably not _me_ me, but the _avatar_ me. Like, she wants her and the avatar to see eye to eye."

"And do you?" Meiling asked, and there wasn't a hint of judgment in her voice.

Wei ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "No. Not really. I mean, uniting the Earth Kingdom and taking down the monarchy I can understand. Things probably wouldn't have ended well if _someone_ hadn't stepped in. But…" He flinched, all of those images of Kuvira from his recent nightmares drifting back to his mind for some reason, "the way she does things just seems _wrong_."

Meiling nodded thoughtfully. "Do you want to learn earthbending from her?"

Wei frowned, "What?"

"Do you still want to learn from her?"

"Uh…" it was like she _knew_ exactly what questions would make him the most uncomfortable, "Well…it's complicated."

She laughed, the first real laugh he had heard from her in the past month, "No, Wei, it really isn't. Not if you don't _make_ it complicated."

They were almost to the end of the field now. "I just–" he said, having to talk fast, "she's an amazing earthbender. The best, maybe, well, as long as Toph Beifong isn't around anymore. But…" he hesitated, stewing on the words that had been in the back of his mind since he had started studying with The Great Uniter.

"But?" Meiling prompted, eying the houses that were coming upon them fast.

"But just because her way of doing things is efficient doesn't mean it's right!" Wei said finally in a rush. "I mean, Kuvira's bending is _scary_ , like, not just _good_ scary but _it-doesn't-feel-right_ scary. Uncle Bai always says that there was more to bending than just throwing rocks around and…and I think he's right!" He took a deep breath, two, and willed his hands to stop shaking. "It's important. How you do something is important, especially…especially since I'm the…" he trailed off, knowing she would understand anyway.

Meiling grabbed his arm, smiling, and for a moment, it was a real, actual smile again, before settling into a fake one again as they reached the residential area. "Come on, Dummy," she said. "Since you dragged me out here, there's a hat shop I've been dying to stop by."

* * *

He didn't think anything of their conversation after that other than to be grateful for having a chance to get some stuff off of his chest until two nights later when he woke up to a hand covering his mouth and nearly had a heart attack.

" _Mei_ ," he hissed once his sister had moved her hand away, one finger over her mouth in the universal 'shh' sign.

"We need to talk _,_ " she whispered back.

Wei glanced at the clock and nearly groaned. "At three in the morning?" There was no way Kuvira was going to tolerate him falling asleep during practice. After a moment, his sleepy mind caught up with the fact that his sister was standing in his room and yet somehow no guards or maids seemed to have been alerted to the fact that they were up. "How did you get in here?"

She stuck out her tongue at him because apparently they were five-year-olds. "I'm sneakier than you think." And that was really not something he wanted to dwell on.

"Listen," she said, completely serious now. "You said it yourself–Kuvira's crazy."

"Mei!" He started to object that, no, he in fact _hadn't_ said so himself, but she _shh_ ed him.

"The guards are asleep okay, and the maids are all gossiping in the kitchens. Kuvira must either actually trust you to not sneak off or she really doesn't think you have the balls to do anything to oppose her because she's not putting very much effort into keeping you under lock and key."

Wei scowled, mostly because he wasn't sure which option was more offensive, but he knew that there was no one close enough to hear them talking so long as they kept their voices down. He just hoped that no one noticed Meiling was out of bed.

"Look," Meiling said, looking him dead in the eye, "you know Kuvira's playing you like a Pai Sho tile, right?"

Wei tried not to feel offended, "I know she wants to." And so far he had been letting her. It wasn't like he had a lot of options until he could figure out a way to build up a game plan. They had only been in the palace a month–he was just trying to keep his head above the water at this point until he could think of something better. "Why?"

She grinned one of those wide, scary grins that were usually reserved for mecha fight nights and weapons upgrades. "Because while you've been getting your ass kicked this month, _I've_ been busy. What would you say if I told you I might have a way out of here?"


	3. Meiling Wrecks the City

**So, this chapter ended up being about 5k words longer than I intended, but, there you go... Also, one of the scenes in the first half of this chapter contains direct quotes from season four episode 11, so I'd like to reiterate that I don't own any of the LoK characters or dialogue.**

 **Thanks go out to everyone who has left a review or favorited. You guys are awesome!**

* * *

Chapter Three: Meiling Wrecks the City

* * *

Three days into what Wei was referring to as Operation Bound to Go Horribly Wrong Uncle Bai showed up at the palace surrounded by Dai Li agents and looking about ready to punch a rock through the nearest wall.

"Why is it," he asked through clenched teeth once they had all sat down to tea in his parents' sitting room, "that no one ever tells me anything?"

Wei knew it was probably meant to be a rhetorical question. On the other hand the silence hanging around the table was really making him uncomfortable, especially since he usually relied on conversation to drown out the sound of Meiling scheming unholy monstrosities.

"It's okay Uncle Bai," he said, just as his mother gracefully began pouring Cheng a cup of jasmine oolong, "no one bothered to tell me that I was the avatar either."

"That's in poor taste, Wei." Their father reprimanded about the same time tea spilled all over the table as Li Hua dissolved in a fit of giggling.

"It's not funny!" Uncle Bai insisted, though Wei was pretty sure from the look on his face that he was trying really hard not to smile. He stabbed an accusing finger at their father "An entire spirits blasted month, Ling! Imagine my surprise when I show up to check in on my little brother only to find out he and his family have been arrested by the Dai Li!"

Cheng, who had finally gotten his cup of tea, nearly spit all over the freshly wiped table. "Arrested! Who was arrested? We weren't _arrested_!"

"Escorted, then," Uncle Bai corrected. "None of the neighbors know what happened other than that they saw you being escorted toward the Upper Ring by Dai Li agents. Can you blame them for thinking you were arrested? That one man, Gung, is spreading rumors that the government has turned anti-Equalist."

"That could be troublesome," Their father mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "We wouldn't want to indirectly cause any political unrest."

"What, like the Equalist party doesn't cause enough unrest on their own?"

Li Hua eyed them dangerously over her cup. "I do hope you gentlemen aren't trying to start any political debates at _my_ table." When both men fell immediately silent she smiled at them serenely. "We are truly sorry, Bai, that you had to find out about this all so indirectly. There are few telephones available in the palace, and the empress is quite strict about what they can be used for."

"Of course she is," Bai muttered under his breath. A little more audibly, he said, "But still, an entire month to send one letter?"

Their father laughed dryly, "Oh yes, you know how the bureaucrats love their red tape. We wrote the letter on our second day here when we found out we couldn't call anyone, and then we had to hand it in for screening to make sure that it wasn't going to give away any government secrets. The Grand Secretariat nearly had an aneurism when he found out that we wanted to inform someone of Wei's situation, which the empress wishes to remain secret to the public. Then we had to spend the entire month getting approval to disclose the information to you, during which the letter was rewritten four times and Empress Kuvira herself consulted. After the empress finally gave it the go ahead, the Secretariat insisted that the letter was too sensitive send through the postal service and that it must be hand delivered by an imperial messenger."

"Which is why I had two Dai Li and some rich snob show up on my door step at the crack of dawn," Uncle Bai concluded, looking none too pleased with the explanation. "Kyoshi's toenails, politics gives me a headache."

"Can we swear by past avatars anymore since we're technically family?" Meiling asked, looking terrifyingly delighted. "How long before we can use Wei's name?"

Their father, Wei noticed, looked like he sorely wanted something stronger than tea. "No Mei, you cannot use your brother's name as a curse word."

"Not until he gets outed as the avatar, at least," Cheng muttered under his breath. Wei kicked his shin under the table, and the dork jumped hard enough to nearly come out of his chair. Their mother, sharp as ever, arched an eyebrow at him but said nothing.

"Spirits, though, what are the odds, you think?" Bai continued. "And I thought _I_ was the genetic black koalasheep in the family just for bending _one_ element."

"It's fairly certain that reincarnating as the _World Spirit_ has no genetic heritability, if that's what you're implying." Ling deadpanned.

Uncle Bai scowled, "All I'm saying is that I find it just a _little_ ironic that after centuries of claiming to have no bending connections and two generations of preaching Equalist doctrine _your son_ just happens to turn out to be the spirits blasted _avatar_!"

 _And there goes the pleasantries,_ Wei observed, and then caught himself chewing his lip nervously.

"My son," his father said, all light traces of amiability gone, "happens to also be _your nephew._ You would do well to remember that, as much as I know you take pride and distancing yourself from family relations, and I would gladly ask you to leave my children out of trying to prove your passive aggressive would _also_ do well to remember that believing the Equalist doctrine in no way equates to hating benders, and that attacking those who only seek equality just serves to further prove our point."

"Don't hate benders my a–" Li Hua sent him such scathing look that he backtracked, "–Aunt Chu's back hair. Maybe not everyoneis _hateful_ I conceded you that. But if you think that Equalists don't harbor any resentment toward benders then you didn't know our parents like I did."

Meiling shot Wei a surprised look, and–surprisingly enough–leaned over to Cheng.

"Psst," she whispered, camouflaged by Li Hua's outraged shouts about airing long standing family grievances at the table. "Cheng, you remember gran-gran, right? She wasn't _actually_ prejudiced towards benders, was she?"

The dead eyed that he gave her was a pure testimony to just how much crap Cheng had put up with over the past couple of days. Wei made a mental note to cut the guy some slack later.

"Why do you ask these sorts of things," Cheng hissed back, shaking his head. "How would I know? I was only eight when she passed–what kind of an eight year old picks up on those sorts of things!"

Wei took a moment to be glad that he hadn't started bending yet when the last of their grandparents had died and had never had to find out for himself. Then he heard his father, red faced, defending his parent's reputations to Uncle Bai and felt a little bad for the thought.

"Sorry for even bringing it up!" Uncle Bai spat finally, standing. "If you're going to turn everything into an argument I might as well not even bother!"

The tension in the air was solid enough that Empress Kuvira probably could have bent it into a giant ball and beaten the snot out of him with.

When Uncle Bai turned, Meiling, who had always been the faster of the two of them, shot to her feet too.

"You're not leaving already, are you?" she asked, and Wei knew just enough about his sister to know that the touch of hurt in her voice was real. "You just got here!"

Uncle Bai rubbed the back of his neck roughly. "Nah, kid, I'm just going for some air." He took the back door into on of the royal gardens instead of the main one, so Wei figured he meant it.

Their father sighed with enough force to make himself look like a deflating balloon. "This is why I won't invite him to dinner parties," he lamented to his wife.

Li Hua shook her head and started gathering up the dishes. "Honestly, for two grown men you bicker like children! If you can't discuss your differences civilly then it's best not to mention it at all! Especially not on such an occasion!" Sniffing derisively, she blew out the candle inside the tea warmer and stood to put away the kettle. A moment later a servant stopped her mid turn and took the tea set from her, disappearing the next instant while another appeared to clear the table. For a moment, their mother stood there and watched them work, lips pursed and eyes brooding.

"Oh, I hate it when they do that!" she spat the moment both servants were out of earshot. "I've been cooking and clearing dishes for a living my entire life, and now I'm just expected to stand around and act helpless!"

"It's not so bad, Mom," Meiling said. "Now you have time to do whatever else you want to do!"

Li Hua stared at a space on the wall just behind her children, looking strangely lost "Like what?" she asked no one in particular. "My children are being taken care of. My restaurant is being run by almost strangers. I can't even clear up the table. What else is there?"

"Wei," their father said after a moment, sounding more gentle than he had all afternoon. "Why don't you go talk to your uncle in the garden. He's likely already calmed down some by now."

"Uh, right," Wei said, eternally grateful for the chance to excuse himself. It took nearly all of his carefully built up discipline not to sprint for the door.

Uncle Bai apparently moved fast when he was in a stormy mood, but that was okay because Wei could move pretty fast when he was feeling uncomfortable. He caught up to him standing at the edge of a koi pond at the far end of the garden, staring into the water and doing some of the calming breathing exercises that he had taught him for earthbending. Wei sat down next to him on one of the big rocks overlooking the water and watched the fish.

"Erm, sorry to interrupt," Wei said.

Uncle Bai was rubbing the back of his head again, "Nah, you're not interrupting, kid. Sorry for causing a fight with your folks. More importantly, sorry for bringing you into it."

Wei was starting to chew his lip again, and had to force himself to stop. "It's alright. I mean, I _do_ appreciate the irony of the situation. I just don't think that Equalists are bad people."

"Of course not," Uncle Bai said quickly. "I didn't mean to imply that your parents are bigoted."

 _Only my parents though,_ Wei mused. _So the rest of the Equalist party can go wade in quicksand then?_ He shook the thought from his mind. He hadn't come out here to start another fight.

"I didn't say it earlier," he said instead, "but I really _am_ glad to see you. Things have been weird the past month."

"Oh I bet," Uncle Bai grinned, finally, _finally_ looking relaxed like he should. "So I hear you're taking lessons from the Great Uniter now."

Wei barely suppressed a groan. "Yeah, pretty much."

"And how's that going?"

"The empress is…a strict teacher. But I've been learning a lot, I guess." It wasn't like he had stuff like a well-rounded educationto distract him any more, in any case. He felt Uncle Bai looking at him oddly and realized that without thinking he had slipped into the blank slate face that had been coming easier and easier lately. That…kind of scared him. He tried to smile. "It's not nearly as fun as squaring off with you, though."

Uncle Bai let out a laugh, though it sounded almost as forced as Wei's smile, "Don't go telling the empress that! I don't want to get accused of being more fun than her!"

Wei chuckled a little in response. Then, he stiffened as he remembered instructions that had been forgotten in all of the tension from earlier, and his stomach sunk. He was going to put ice cubes in Meiling's slippers for making him do her dirty work, even if this _was_ technically a team effort.

"What's up, kid? You don't look so good," Uncle Bai observed.

Wei ignored him in favor of pressing his hand flat against the rock they were sitting on and feeling out the vibrations around them. He was no Toph Beifong, but he couldn't make out any footsteps in their general vicinity in the garden, and the garden wall was far enough away that no one watching would be able to overhear as long as they didn't shout.

He opened his mouth. _"Meiling thinks we could get out of the city. We've got it planned out, see, and we were wondering…"_ It shouldn't be that hard to say. Uncle Bai had never been a fan of Kuvira's regime, even if he kept it on the down low and isolated _those_ opinions for drunken moments talking late, late past midnight with Dad in the kitchen about 'the old days'. He would support them, probably, regardless of whether or not he thought their plan was crazy. If Wei told him that he thought the empress was crazy, he would believe him, little to no questions asked.

That…wasn't what Wei wanted. Meiling was one thing; she had seen the empress herself and had gotten to observe her behavior an entire month before Wei had talked with her, even if it was only from afar. Meiling wouldn't have hesitated him to tell him to his face if she thought he was wrong. But while Wei trusted her as a second opinion, he wasn't sure he was willing to risk his neck (and his _family's_ necks for that matter) based off of only two people's bad feelings. He needed to be sure that they weren't overreacting here; if they were going to break out of the most defensible and secure city in the entire known world, he wanted to be absolutely sure first that there really was something wrong with the woman in charge and that they weren't just being paranoid.

For that…for that he needed an outside viewpoint. From someone who didn't have Wei's own opinions clouding his perception. So…

"What do you think of all this really?" Wei asked.

Uncle Bai raised an eyebrow at him. "You're going to have to be a bit more specific–"

"No one can hear us if we keep our voices down," Wei pointed out. _You can't play clueless with me anymore, Uncle–I've been playing mental chickenpig with the Great Uniter for the past month._ What was more, the empress hadn't called him out on it yet. Like it or not, he had been learning far more than bending from Kuvira. "So, tell me what you really think about what's going on."

His uncle gave him a searching look, and, apparently not liking what he found, let out a short puff of air. "You don't miss much. You've always been a sharp kid, Wei." He paused, considering his words. "If you want my honest opinion, I think you're all in a very dangerous situation right now."

"Dangerous how?" he asked, as if he didn't already have an idea.

"That fact that the empress is keeping your existence a secret is…troublesome. What reason could there be for keeping you hidden?"

He felt his pulse pick up a little, and he wasn't sure whether he was glad or disappointed to have more support for his suspicions.

"She claims that there has been trouble with rebels–that they would want to kidnap me," Wei pointed out. In retrospect, it was probably more than ten kinds of illegal that he was discussing top-secret government matters with someone without clearance. On the other hand, Kuvira had never _said_ he couldn't tell anyone, and he _was_ just a kid who hadn't been in the palace _nearly_ long enough to understand _anything_ about the deeply complicated workings of politics. Really she should have made it clearer if she wanted his silence on the matter.

"Kid," Uncle Bai said, "do you honestly think that the ruler of the entire Earth Empire, who reconquered an entire continent and put a sudden and violent stop to years of anarchy in the _entire_ Earth Kingdom doesn't have enough military power to guard one fifteen-year-old from a couple copperless rebel?"

Wei considered the earthbending prowess he had seen from the empress firsthand during practice and wondered if an army would even be necessary.

"Honestly," he admitted, "it wouldn't surprise me if she could keep the entire palace defended _by herself_."

"Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration," his uncle chuckled, even though Wei was dead serious. "Point being, Kuvira doesn't seem like the type who needs to hide behind walls and secrets to achieve what she wants."

"No, that's much too pre-empire monarchy for her style," Wei mused. "She's much more of the smug, gloating type, from what I've seen." Like a catowl with a freshly caught koi. And what was the point of an achievement if you couldn't parade it around for others to see? Which…didn't make sense, actually, because if Kuvira was that type of person then why was she being so overly cautious? There was no question about defensibility, and if Wei had Kuvira's sense of self confidence mixed with pride the first thing he would have done was announce to the world that the avatar had been found just to let the rebels know that she had him. In the very least it should lower enemy morale. At most it _would_ draw rebels into the capital, right where she could easily dispose of them if she had the presence of mind, which he didn't doubt she did. _Like dangling a fish right in front of a liondillo, just out of swiping distance_. _Or better yet, more like dangling a carrot on a stick in front of an ostrichhorse._

Even better. Then they could at least _think_ about negotiations with the Fire Nation to see about getting him a firebending teacher. Even if the Fire Nation didn't like dealing with Kuvira, the avatar was supposed to serve the _world_ , so even _they_ should see the sense in sending someone…

 _The avatar serves the world._

Wei slapped himself on the forehead, ignoring the weird look it earned him from his uncle. _I am a tremendous idiot._

"This isn't about rebels," he realized. "This is about _me_."

Because Kuvira had him right where she wanted him–in the palace safe from prying eyes where she could train him in earthbending and politics. She was in absolutely no hurry to find a firebending teacher for him because as long as he was stuck in the palace he was _her_ Pai Sho tile up her sleeve to move as she pleased. The Earth Empire was in the middle of an arms race. Kuvira would probably be more willing to chew off her own arm than give up what could potentially be her biggest trump card against the Fire Nation. And the second the other nations got wind that he was here was the moment that they could start (rightly) demanding she turn him over to them to carry out his 'Avatar duty'. Because the avatar wasn't supposed to be under that control of one nation. The avatar was the reincarnation of the spirit _of the whole damn world_.

"Wei, what's wrong?" Uncle Bai asked. The expression on his face probably wasn't pretty because his uncle was giving him concerned looks. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I'm pretty much fucked," Wei admitted. Uncle Bai actually choked (probably because Wei had never cursed around him before) and looked like he was going to give him an earful, so he quickly added "But listen, that's okay, because Meiling has a _plan_."

A plan that was seeming progressively less drastic in retrospect. That could only be a bad sign.

* * *

Daily spars with the empress were growing increasingly uncomfortable, even if he was pretty used to getting rocks chucked at him by now.

It wasn't even so much the lessons themselves that bothered him, because, the thing was, he _was_ improving, say what you will about Kuvira's possibly unorthodox approach to teaching. His reflexes had gotten so honed at this point that he had nearly punched a rock through his father's sternum the last time he had grabbed his shoulder to get his attention. He was even getting better at defensive bending, and, thanks to both bending and tactical thinking exercises, had started coming up with some creative ways of catching Kuvira off guard enough to get some offense in.

The problem was that, between planning a grand escape attempt and trying to pretend like he didn't notice that the empress was kind of insane, Wei was having a hard time not being distracted.

It certainly didn't help matters that his ignoring of those weird dream of a much younger Kuvira facing him in yet another combat situation had only resulted in visions from said dream interrupting his careful watching of his teacher across the practice yard with overlaying images of two different versions of her.

A full week into Operation Bound to Go Horribly Wrong, Wei relented to the fact that this was probably less the result of head trauma (the palace doctor insisted he was fine) and more the result of inconvenient avatar stuff.

He wasn't an idiot. Liao had suggested that one of the past avatars was trying to communicate with him, and with all of the mental flashes of what were obviously memories of some kind, Wei was inclined to believe him. The thing was, there was only one other avatar that had been alive during Kuvira's lifetime. And, with the way Liao had reacted last time he brought this particular dream up, he figured some tact was in order.

"So, in theory," he mentioned during his next lesson with Master Liao, "I can talk to past avatars, right?"

"Yes, it's certainly within an avatar's capabilities." Something uncomfortable flashed in Liao's gaze, poorly concealed a moment later. "Why the curiosity, all of the sudden?" In truth, Wei hadn't really been the most vocal during their sessions, preferring to sit quietly and mull over some of the finer details of how they were going to convince their parents to break out of Ba Sing Se with them.

Wei put on his best sheepish smile, "Oh, well, I found some reading material from Avatar Kyoshi's time in the Imperial Library. She sounds really badass."

Liao frowned sternly at his language, but seemed to ease up in his posture. _No scheming here, just dumb teenage shenanigans._

"Well, communicating directly with past incarnations usually requires a deep state of meditation, sometimes even a journey to the spirit world. At this stage in your training and since you have little experience with meditation, I don't think such an attempt would be within your range of abilities right now. Most avatars must train for years before they can achieve a deep enough connection with the spirits to achieve such a thing."

"But Avatar Aang was only twelve." Even if Aang had been an outlier, surely that meant that it could still be done, in theory.

Liao's lips quirked into an indulgent smile. "Avatar Aang was raised as a monk, trained in meditation long before he even found out that he was the avatar. In any case, the man was considered by many to be a prodigy, even among avatars."

"Damn," Wei sighed, letting his teacher focus on his foul language instead of the thoughtfulness that he didn't doubt was readable on his face, "I was hoping Kyoshi might help me learn a few tricks for earthbending."

Liao sniffed, but still looked amused, "I dare say it'll take more than a few pointers if you ever want to pull one over on the empress."

He smiled sheepishly, the picture of an embarrassed student. _Oh don't I know it._

* * *

 _Breathe in._ He concentrated on the feeling of air entering through his nostrils and swirling through his lungs–focused on the expansion of his chest and the pulsing of blood through his veins. _And out._

He wasn't exactly sure how long he had been at this. The few times he had tried meditation with Uncle Bai it had ended fairly quickly. The fact that Wei's usually long attention span for things like reading and listening to history lectures did _not_ apparently extend to sitting quietly in a room with nothing but his thoughts and the companionable sense of impending doom did not help. It wasn't that he wasn't capable of focusing himself…the problem here seemed to be more that he didn't really have anything in particular to focus _on_.

 _Relax_ , he told himself, repeating advice that pretty much every book on meditation in the imperial library had to offer, _clear your mind._

This felt counter-intuitive. How was he supposed to clear his mind and contact his past lives at the same time? Otherwise wouldn't he just kind of…drift off without putting any effort into making contact? Maybe meditation for avatars worked different. It wasn't like he had much to go off of in that department.

A frustrated sigh escaped his lips, and he cursed himself for breaking his flow of breathing. _What good is having a connection with your past incarnations if you can't damn well communicate with them?_

He chewed his lip anxiously, then caught himself. _Breathe in._ Not like he had many other options. They only had one day left if they were going to pull this off. If one of his past lives was trying to warn him about something, he had to know now. _And out._

Either minutes or hours passed. His sense of time perception had never been the best when nervous, and he didn't dare raise his eyes to look at the clock on the wall. He needed to sleep. He couldn't keep doing this all night.

 _Breathe._ What was he doing _wrong_?

Feeling that amateur meditation was getting him nowhere, Wei slumped his position and ran a hand through the hair on the back of his head. Looked like it was time for Plan B. Even if Plan B was pretty much awful.

"Um," he said to the empty room around him, letting his eyes fall fully shut, "Avatar Korra?" He paused, hearing nothing other than the awkwardness of talking to himself in an empty room echoing back at him. "I'm assuming that you're the one messing with my head?"

Silence. Not even the chirping of insects in the garden, which was…spooky, but not relevant right now. "Look, I'm kind of in deep shit here. I know I'm supposed to have this strong spiritual connection or whatever, but I'm kind of on a time crunch here. So…If you're trying to tell me something important, could you maybe cut me some slack here?"

If the spirits, past avatars, or anyone else had heard him, they did not feel inclined to respond. Groaning, Wei lied back on the cool marble floor of his bedroom. _Well, it's not like I expected anything different._ It looked like he would be getting himself out of this mess without the spirits' help.

The clock chimed from his sitting room, announcing that it was two in the morning and long after he should have gone to sleep if he wanted to be fully alert tomorrow. Wei had just resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to be getting any decent rest when his mind drifted off to sleep with him still sprawled out on the floor.

He was so used to the weird dream shit that he honestly wasn't surprised at this point when the next thing he knew he was standing in a strange place and surrounded by people he didn't know. He _was_ a little surprised though, when he looked down to see that not only did he look like himself but his entire body was transparent.

 _Well,_ he thought, _either this is more than just a normal dream or someone has murdered me in my sleep and I'm a ghost._

It looked like he was in a storehouse of some kind because the room he was in was spacious and housed multiple crates along with some very strange looking vehicles set out ready for testing. There were more than a dozen people in the room, and almost half of them were dressed in red, form hugging suits that he vaguely recognized from textbooks that standard modern airbender attire. Most of the rest were dressed in various shades of Earth Empire green with metal shoulder and chest pieces, one of which was a man tied up in a chair. It was a young woman standing in front of him that caught his eye though. She was dark skinned with short brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in water tribe attire even though a glance out the window was enough to tell him that they were no where near the poles.

Wei was so busy taking in his surroundings that he missed most of a very tense conversation going on between a middle aged woman in Empire attire and the man tied to the chair.

"…The United Republic belongs to us," he was saying, staring the woman down through the glasses siting crookedly on his face. "And we're taking it back!"

 _United Republic?_ The words hit Wei like a splash of ice water to the face. "Oh are you _shitting_ me?" _I'm in the spirits damned past!_

No one visibly reacted to his outburst, so he figured that no one could actually see or hear him.

"But at what cost?" the woman demanded while Wei stood there reeling. "How many people have to lose their lives before Kuvira is satisfied?"

 _Shit, shit, this before the fall of the United Republic._ Or, maybe during, given how _quiet_ the city outside seemed. Where were the sounds of traffic and business–

"It doesn't have to cost _any_ lives if you would all just surrender–"

And there was a _giant-ass_ mecha suit standing on the horizon bigger than Wei had ever seen before except in history books. O _h shit!_

"All Kuvira and I want is a United Earth Empire."

Who _was_ this guy? How delusional was he that he could talk as if he and Empress Kuvira were equals? As far as Wei knew, the creation of the Earth Empire had always been _her_ grand vision. There had never been any mention of a partner in planning or otherwise.

For a while the rest of the words being spoken faded out of his perception as he turned to stare at the giant war machine on the horizon with an increasingly sinking feeling in his stomach that he might know why this guy never made it into the history books. When he finally shook himself out of it, the Water Tribe woman had stepped forward and was speaking to the captive.

Wei was starting to realize that, logically speaking this was _probably_ some sort of memory from a past life. A very _recent_ past life. Which meant that this woman, being they only person obviously of Water Tribe descent in the room was most likely Avatar Korra herself.

 _Hopping hogmonkies_ _I'm looking at_ me. _Sort_ _of_. The realization struck him like one of Kuvira's rocks to the stomach.

"Is taking the city worth losing the one you love forever?" Avatar Korra demanded. And, okay, yeah, this was really weird.

"You can't!"

"I will! Unless you convince Kuvira to back off. You two will still have the Earth Empire, just leave the United Republic _alone_."

Wei had a very, _very,_ bad feeling about where this was going.

There was a phone call made. An exchange of words with the woman who was inevitably going to destroy this city.

 _"Is the avatar there with you now?"_ A sickening familiar voice on the other end of the line said. Wei almost laughed. _In more ways than you know, lady._

"Yes," the man said, "everyone is here."

Korra's terms were repeated. And oh, the man in the chair, Kuvira's _lover_ apparently, was actually convinced that that would be enough to convince Kuvira to back down.

And for a shocking moment, it sounded like that's exactly what was going to happen.

 _"You're right. This city isn't worth sacrificing our life together. I love you Bataar."_

The man, Bataar, was untied. Everyone visibly relaxed. Wei stared out the window at the mecha in the distance. "Oh, tell me she didn't."

One metal arm began to rise towards them. Wei groaned, dropping his face into his hands. "Of course she fucking did!"

"Guys, she must have our location!" someone shouted.

 _It's just a memory,_ Wei told himself, watching everyone turn and stare in horror.

"No! She wouldn't!" Bataar said, though even he didn't seem completely sure.

 _It's just a memory,_ He told himself. _You can't do anything to stop it._ He balled his hands into fists at his side.

The first flash of pink light came from the end of the weapon, and Korra shouted, "Everyone out! Now!"

 _It's just a memory,_ he told himself as the light coming towards them grew and a sound like the exploding of worlds rattled his eardrums. _It's not real._

The room was engulfed in light and fire and screaming long before anyone made it to the door.

 _It's just a memory._ The thought was echoing in his mind as his eyes shot open back in his too large room where he was still lying on the floor. It did not stop him from rolling over and puking all over the polished marble.

After his stomach was empty, he slowly sat up, sweaty and panting with an awful taste in his mouth. He got to his feet without really thinking and walked out into the sitting area connected to his bedchamber, stopping in front of the book shelf there. His fingers stroked the spine of the thin volume at the very end of the top shelf and tugged it from its place.

 _The Triumph of the Earth Empire_ the cover read. It was a book he had flipped through many times in passing over the past month.

His hands were shaking as he turned the pages to the second to last chapter, causing him to fumble with the pages and give himself a paper cut.

 _There_. He stopped halfway through the chapter, staring at one of the few printed pictures in the book: a gigantic mecha suit, standing amidst the towers of an enormous city that was smoking and slumping after facing bombardment. He forced his eyes to the caption:

 _One of the Earth Empire's earliest models for a full war-ready mecha, and to date still the largest ever used in combat. Designed and piloted by Empress Kuvira herself, this model was key in securing the capture of Republic City._

Wei read the statement again four times, feeling just a little less numb and a little more pissed off with each reading, his eyes going back to the same four words over and over again.

 _Piloted by Empress Kuvira._

Based on the events he had just seen, it was pretty easy to draw some logical conclusions about the Battle of Republic City.

 _Kuvira killed Avatar Korra._

That feeling was back. That helpless rage that clenched his stomach and made him desperately want to hurt the nearest thing within punching distance. He dropped the book and let his fingernails dig into his palms, feeling flames lick at his knuckles.

 _That_ bitch _._ He thought through the haze of red. _This is all_ her _fault!_

* * *

Unsurprisingly, there was something about finding out that your instructor had killed you in a past life that made earthbending practice lose some of its charm. There were no hard feelings what so ever, then, when General Nainzu interrupted Wei on his way to the practice courtyard to inform his that Empress Kuvira had been called away to settle a problem in one of the near provinces and obviously wouldn't be able to meet with his that morning.

Instead he got to spend his morning discussing past foreign policies over Pai Sho with the general, which was…almost pleasant, considering he hadn't actually gotten to play against someone who could give him a run for his money since Meiling had declared the game boring and turned over to building mechas.

Nianzu conceded that it would be redundant to hold their usual meeting later in the day, so Wei got the rest of the afternoon off. Seeing an opportunity, Wei tracked down Master Liao and, after pulling some random questions about meditation out of his ass, managed to convince him to hold his usual lesson earlier than usual as well.

By the time four o'clock had rolled around the empress had still not returned, and Wei was completely free of obligations. Things were going unexpectedly…convenient.

It was early evening when Uncle Bai showed up again. Like the last time, there was a scowl firmly fixed on his face, though this time for completely different reasons.

"You're late," Wei said under his breath as they walked through the corridors.

"You try getting your superior to let you off two hours early on the day three separate idiots try to rob a radio shop. The _same_ radio shop."

Meiling was waiting for them in the main garden that Kuvira had received Wei in on his first day here, lounging on a bench with a book in hand. The moment they entered, she set the book aside and bounced to her feet to embrace their uncle.

"We're good to talk, right?" she asked while they were all gathered in close.

"More or less," Wei said, "just be careful and keep it down."

Meiling rolled back on her heels and gave Uncle Bai and expectant look. "Did you get what I asked?"

The frown, which had momentarily been lifted from their uncle's face, fell heavily back into place, and he started muttering some rather choice swear words under his breath. "Spirits of the earth, girl, you kids are going to be the end of me! 'I just need you to pick up a couple of things' she said. 'Could you handle some business with a friend of ours,' she asked. You didn't damn well mention that your little 'friend' was a blasted underground fight-club organizer!"

"You didn't ask," Wei said before Meiling could cut in with something worse. "Did you get it though?"

"Yes, I got your thrice damned money. And spirits help both of you when your parents find out what you two delinquents have been doing behind their backs!"

Wei hid a grimace, feigning interest in the clouds.

While Meiling usually liked to keep plans flexible, there were several key components to Operation Bound to Go Horribly Wrong that they had both agreed were nonnegotiable if they were going to actually go through with it. And unfortunately one of those parts involved discussion with Fight Master Xiao about some rather sensitive financial matters. Since there was no way that Meiling or Wei were going to be able to sneak out of the palace long enough to handle said business, the best alternative was to send someone else with appropriate written permission to do it for them.

Even more unfortunately, the only person available for the job was Uncle Bai, who happened to be a cop and rather uninformed as to the hidden finesse of mecha fighting.

"Honestly, though, _why_?" Uncle Bai demanded. "What could have possibly possessed you? Mecha fighting is _illegal_!"

"Um," Meiling offered, "because it's illegal and _fun_?" And, okay, even for her, that was a little blasé.

Uncle Bai's fingers dug into his scalp so hard Wei was worried that he might draw blood. His face had also begun to take on an interesting shade of red. "Why can't you damn kids take up something _normal_ when you're bored? There are plenty of perfectly legal sports!"

"Yeah, and they're boring," Meiling said, shrugging. "And anyway, it's not like we're going to be participating anymore, so can we talk about this later? You can lecture us all you want then, but right now we've really got more important things to talk about."

"You–" their uncle noticeable took a couple of deep breaths, and shoved his hands into his pockets. "We're not done discussing this. Your parents are going to absolutely kill you. And me too, probably."

"Just so long as they do it _after_ we're out of Ba Sing Se." Meiling tugged on one of her braids, looking at the ground. "I'm _sorry_ , okay. For being dishonest, anyway." Apparently satisfied she glanced back up and looked Uncle Bai in the eyes. "You _did_ get it, though–the money?"

Uncle Bai let out an exasperated sigh and dug a pouch out of the pocket inside his jacket. "I already said yes, didn't I? I'm not even going to comment on how the blazes you two got your hands on a full mecha unit."

Meiling caught the pouch as it was tossed to her, but surprisingly stuck it in her pocket without even glancing at its contents.

 _That mecha took her two and a half years to salvage and build. Even longer with the modifications made to the final product._ Two and a half years of blood and sweat that Wei had watched as she slowly and painstakingly pieced together bits of scrapped parts and found gears based on what would have only ever been considered a passing fancy for most kids. Wei might have known every mechanism that had to be bent into place in order to pilot the thing, but Meiling literally knew that machine inside and out better than her own anatomy.

Two and half years of love and work. And they had just sold it.

"Mei…" Wei said, hating the slight quiver he couldn't help but notice in her lower lip.

"It's okay," she said in a voice that clearly was not, "we need the cash for after…" She crossed her arms over her chest and turned to look at the sun sinking down closer to the garden wall. "It's not like we could have taken it with us, anyway." True, and Xiao would have just auctioned it once their hanger rental ran out and no one came to claim it. That still didn't mean that Wei felt any less like he had been sucker punched in the gut, and if _he_ was feeling bent out of shape he hated to think what Meiling was feeling.

"Uh," Uncle Bai was looking between the two of them like a man interrupting an emotional moment only could. "I um, well, there was some stuff in your locker there too. The man I talked to–and I didn't get his name because I would have been too tempted to do some arresting if I had–gave me what you had stored there. There was a tool kit that would have come in handy, probably, but obviously I couldn't sneak it into the palace. Anyway, there was also this." He pulled a small bundle out of his pocket and shoved it at Wei.

Wei stared at the pair of goggles in his hand and, despite the somber mood, almost laughed. "You grabbed my goggles?"

Meiling scrubbed at her eyes and gave him a shaky grin. "Oh, don't pretend like you're not thrilled. Nerd."

"Oh, yeah," Uncle Bai said, reaching into his other pocket. "I also stopped by the house like you asked and grabbed this for you." His hand came out holding a familiar floppy brown had (missed by the servants who had been supposed to pick up their clothes–irresponsible really), and Meiling broke out in a grin bright enough to outshine the sunset behind them.

"Really," Wei teased, "you made him go back for the hat?"

Meiling stuck her tongue out at him. "Hey, if you get to keep the stupid goggles then I deserve to have my hat."

He would give her that. And really he didn't give a damn so long as it made up even a little bit for having to give up the mecha suit.

Looking just a little self-satisfied, Meiling stuffed her hat on top of her head. "Right! Well. Who's ready to cause some trouble?"

* * *

As was only practical for mad plans, Operation Bound to Go Horribly Wrong required a strict level of secrecy and was only known in full to Meiling and Wei, and even Wei was a little leery about whether or not his sister had actually told him everything she had planned for their daring escape. Uncle Bai had been let in on only the barest of facts: they intended to escape Ba Sing Se to get away from Kuvira, they had a plan (mostly), but they needed him to secure some funds for them so that once they _did_ get out they would have something to live off of for spirits knew how long. Other than that, Meiling and Wei had made sure to breathe not a word outside of their own carefully whispered planning sessions.

The point being, Mr. and Mrs. Yuan were still not, strictly speaking, in the know.

It was an hour and a half until go-time. As much as Wei was not eager for 'go time' to get there, he was even less eager for what they had to do now.

The Yuan parents had been understandably surprised when Uncle Bai showed up with the twins for dinner. They were even more surprised when he stayed long into the evening despite little attempt at conversation or pleasantries.

It was exactly half past nine, and they had all retired to their parents' sitting room, their tea and conversations having both long gone cold. Li Hua had lost her patience and dismissed the servants half and hour ago, leaving the perfect opportunity for private conversation.

"I must admit, Bai, I was a bit shocked you decided to come again so soon." Their father said after a long lapse of silence.

Meiling, who had been staring at Wei intently for the past five minutes, finally gave up on her patience and elbowed him in the ribs. Finally seeing that there was no point in putting it off any longer Wei steeled his nerves and spoke up.

"Uh, actually, Dad, me and Mei asked him to come."

Ling Yuan raised a baffled eyebrow. "Whatever for?"

"Um, well, you see…" _Great, this is just like the firebending thing all over again._ Nine thirty-five on the clock. Meiling elbowed him sharply again, and he decided that subtlety could go die in a hole. "Mom, Dad, Empress Kuvira is wolfbat shit insane, and Mei and I have a plan to break out of the city tonight."

It was a curious sort of quiet that enveloped the table. It was the kind of quiet that was less a lack of talking and more the absence of sound that came when everyone had so many words that they wanted to say immediately flooding their minds that they were having trouble picking out which would be the best to say first. With Uncle Bai somewhat in the know that really only left half of the table that was staring at him with mixed degrees of horror and utter bafflement, but the sheer degree of staring coming from that half was enough to make Wei squirm down in his chair in a most un-avatar-like fashion.

Cheng was the first to find his words, which was unsurprising given that he probably had the least amount of space in his head for words to begin with.

"Sweet badgermoles, you guys actually are _crazy_ aren'tyou!"

Wei stared at him across the table. "Maybe." He hadn't exactly expected Cheng to be his biggest supporter anyway. "But however bad you think we are? Kuvira is _worse_ , and as of right now you're going to have to pick which of us to go along with because Mei and I aren't sticking around to see what happens when she gets bored and starts thinking up ways that the avatar can be _useful_."

Cheng shook his head fervently. "Wei, what the blazes do you think the Empress could possibly have planned? I mean, politics aren't the best, sure, but it's not like we're at _war_." He shot a sidelong look at their father, but Ling wouldn't look at him.

Ling Yuan took off his glasses, wiping them on the edge of his sleeve in slow, deliberate movements. A moment later, he replaced them, and rubbed his temples as if he had a headache.

"Your uncle would know firsthand I am no fan of the Empress' regime. But, Wei, Cheng is not incorrect. I would hope that you would recognize that suspicion alone is not a good enough reason to act out upon. To break out of the palace and personally disrespect the Empress…Wei, Meiling, please tell me that you have a _very good_ reason for suggesting such a thing. Other than you disliking the empress."

Wei pursed his lips. This. This was what he had been worried about, why he had wanted their uncle's opinion. Because, while claiming the empress was mentally unstable was justified from his and Meiling's observation, it did not seem so solid an argument when he considered how this must look to their father: like two incredibly smart but also incredibly flighty teenagers complaining about the newest authority figure to break into their lives. And it was an incredibly _frustrating_ to realize that to your father you sounded like a whiny child who didn't like their teacher. Especially when all of sudden Wei couldn't think of any words to explain his suspicions about Kuvira using him against the other nations, and that they weren't the _only_ ones who thought that something was not right here, but then, even if Uncle Bai was a good outside source he was still only one other person.

One-man support group or not, Uncle Bai apparently had enough experience arguing with his father for the both of them. "Come on, Ling. You can't tell me you haven't seen the lady setting you all up from the moment you stepped foot in the palace. Because from the things you've all said and _not_ said, she's got you all nicely put in order."

The sound of Li Hua's hands slapping down on the table rang like a gavel in Wei's ears, and all of them jumped, swiveling their heads around to stare at her in startled surprise. She was half standing, leaning over the table intently. There was a fierce look in place on her usually reserved expression that Wei had never seen before, and it scared him ten times more than any one of Kuvira's predatory smiles.

"How dare you," she hissed at Bai, "How dare you come in here and accuse us–don't you interrupt, the accusation is in your eyes, even if you wont say it–accuse us of turning a blind eye here. I have put up with this damned place for over a month for the sake of my family, and I'll be damned if I let a fool like you come in and start pointing fingers because we refuse to defy a woman that has an army at her back and currently has _my son_ at her mercy! You think everything is so simple? What would you have us do here, surrounded by _soldiers_? I would bow my head to a thousand tyrants if it meant keeping my children safe!"

"I didn't mean–"

"Oh, I know good and well what you mean, Bai Yuan! And the answer is no! I will not abandon this horrible place just to send my family running into exile. Honestly, how far do you think we'd make it before the military catches us and brings us back? I tell you, there will be a far less friendly welcoming then! I will not help lead my family out of darkness just to cast them into some deeper, darker pit! Ba Sing Se may be corrupt to its core, but it has always been our home. Even if by some miracle we made it out of the empire, do you really think that those other world leaders out there are anymore interested in our wellbeing?"

Bai, looking gobsmacked, leaned back in his chair and shut his mouth.

"Mom," Wei said into the empty air around them once she had slid back into her seat, staring at the table. It took just about every ounce of courage he could muster and then some. "I know you really want to keep me safe but…" Should he say it? Oh he really hated to say it…"But, well, I'm…I'm not _just_ you son anymore. I'm the avatar. And, well, I know that you're the one in charge of keeping _me_ safe, but I keep hearing that the _avatar_ is sort of supposed to help keep the _world_ safe. And I can't really be doing that when, from what we can tell, Kuvira is planning on keeping me in a box."

His mother opened her mouth to protest, but he kept talking before she could, because he couldn't stop now or he might not pluck up the courage to pick back up later. "Kuvira plans on keeping the avatar a secret. That might work for a while, maybe a couple of years even. But sooner or later word _will_ get out and there's going to be some major trouble kicked up over it, and well, if I'm going to be the cause of international mayhem I think I'd like to stir it up based on my own terms. I know that it's dangerous to leave now, but I–we really think that however hard it is now, it's only going to get worse the longer we wait. And also I'm kind of afraid that I'm going to start burning down buildings if I can't get someone to give me some firebending pointers, so there's that."

There was also the fact that Kuvira was a known avatar killer, but, well, he really wasn't sure he was ready to bring that up.

Ling Yuan sighed thoughtfully and laid a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Son, I agree that leaving might be for the best, but time is necessary for thinking these things through…"

"Dad," Wei cut in. Time for the big guns. "When we first came here, you said that, since it concerned me most, you would go along with whatever I decided." He took a deep breath. Another. "Well, now I've decided that Kuvira is crazy and that we should get out of this damned city before she gets us all killed or worse."

For a moment, Wei stared at his parents, and his parents stared back. Neither of them looked particularly convinced, but his mother had a thoughtful look now, rather than an angry one.

"Well," Ling Yuan said finally. "Tell us, then, what is this plan of yours?"

* * *

"Technically speaking" Meiling walked them through, "this is all classified information. The empress wasn't kidding when she promised me the best tutor they could find."

Apparently it had just so happened that 'the best tutor they could find' was also a retired professor of Ba SingSe University who had in recent years been hired on to advise on most of the city's domestic affairs, including crop imports and transportation. As such he had seen more than a few of the less well-known transportation options that Ba Sing Se had to offer.

Fact: under that change of regime that came with Kuvira's rise to power the vast caverns underneath the palace had been converted to massive storage units. Some were used for stashes of emergency supplies in case of siege or other emergencies. The contents of many were unknown. The biggest of them all, however, were used as hangers for the empire's finest war machines, standing by for defense of the city.

Wei didn't ask how Meiling had managed to snatch a peek at the monthly timetable for all hanger activities. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. All that really mattered anyway was that at eleven that night Hanger Five was scheduled to switch out its current units with newer models. At that time the older units would be driven out through one of several restricted tunnels running deep under the city and taken to be redistributed to different military outposts throughout the empire.

There were several entrances to the caverns under the palace. The one closest to Hanger Five was out in the yard where the imperial airships came in, which was, for all intents and purposes, an completely empty stretch of land if you discounted the two airships currently at rest.

"Why not just stow away on an airship?" Cheng demanded in a whisper as they all slunk along the wall of the yard in the shadows.

"You're welcome to try," Meiling had whispered back. "It might make a good distraction for the rest of us when you get caught."

Cheng had lapsed into a sulky silence after that, though that might have been because he was still sore that they'd decided not to bring along any possessions they couldn't carry with them in their pockets for practicality's sake.

It was a long way around the yard sticking close to the wall, but they didn't have the benefit of a new moon that night, so they needed to stick to the shadows. Once they were close as they could get to the airship landing ground without leaving the shadow of the wall, they stopped.

"My tutor said that the Hanger Four is almost directly under the landing pad, and then Hanger Five is accessible from there."

"And he just…told you that?" Uncle Bai asked doubtfully.

"Oh yeah. All I had to say was, 'oh, but I guess you aren't cleared to know where the hangers are…' and he practically gave me a verbal map."

There were only a couple of actual security guards that walked around at regular intervals patrolling the area, so the risk of getting caught wasn't quite as high as Wei had feared. However, it was safely assumable that, while most soldier class earthbenders weren't very good at reading vibrations in the earth, they would still have to tread softly just in case. In the end, they decided to run for it in one large group toward the airships rather than chancing going one by one or in smaller pairs. If one of the patrolmen was good enough to notice them running in a group then going one at a time wasn't going to make that much a difference anyway, and it would only take longer and increase the odds of someone seeing them.

They thankfully made it to the landing pad without anyone noticing them and putting up the alarm. However, upon further inspection after darting around the edges of the airships, they couldn't find any evidence of a door.

"Please tell me that you didn't hear your tutor wrong." Cheng hissed at Meiling in the dark.

Uncle Bai suddenly let out a laugh, startling the rest of them. "I think I see how it is! Why make doors when almost your entire army is made up of earthbenders?"

Without waiting for a reaction, Uncle Bai crept away from the side of the airship a couple of yards until he was standing just at the edge of the landing pad, where the metal surface changed into rock again. He slipped off a shoe and stomped his foot against the ground. Then, grinning wildly at them, he stomped again, this time moving his whole body into the motion and bending forward, sweeping his arms out from the center of his chest to his sides. In the same motion, the ground a few feet in front of him split open, revealing a stairwell descending down into the earth.

"Nice," Meiling whispered as they scurried to get into the opening before any guards noticed. "Why can't you do that Wei?"

Wei bit back his response. One of them had to be the mature one, and now was really not the time for bickering.

Uncle Bai closed the earth back up behind them, but instead of being plunged into complete darkness they found their surroundings illuminated by a dull green glow from crystals staggered at different intervals along the ceiling. The staircase stretched far before them, carrying deep into the bowels of the Upper Ring. Wei hoped for all his luck was worth that no one decided to come up the other way and caught them. There was no sign of anyone coming down behind them and no sounds of anyone else up ahead, but Wei's heart was pounding in his chest like a struck drum.

It didn't take that long before the stairs ended and they found themselves facing a long hallway. The floor turned to metal there, and, after a brief, whispered discussion between Meiling and their father, everyone slipped off their shoes in favor of going it in just socks for fear that echoing footsteps might give them away.

There were several doors lining the left side of the hall at wide intervals and one door a little ways down on the right.

"At least one of the left doors should lead into Hangar Four directly." Meiling whispered. "I'm not sure what the one on the right leads to."

"Any chance that its a supply closet?" their father asked, fiddling with his glasses in a way that meant he was definitely forming an idea.

"Hmm, possibly," Meiling said, "There's no guarantee that its a closet though, and if the room isn't empty, we're all in trouble."

"But if it _is_ a supply closet…" Ling Yuan said.

"Then there's a chance we might find spare uniforms." Uncle Bai finished, nodding thoughtfully.

It might well be worth the risk. They had all been relying heavily on stealth and moving quickly up until now. So far they had been incredibly lucky to not have encountered anyone, but the chances of Hangar Five being uninhabited during a military procedure was nil. If the door on the right _was_ a supply closet and had some spare uniforms lying around, even if they didn't exactly _fit_ it would help them blend in more than wandering around in civilian clothes.

Some quick whispers were exchanged between Uncle Bai and their parents.

"Oh, for goodness' sakes," Li Hua said finally. Before either man could object she walked over to the right door and gently pressed her ear to it. For a moment everyone in the hallway held their breath.

"Silent on the other side." She reported. "Now I think it would be a good idea–"

Before she could finish the clacking echo of boots on metal flooring came from down the hall. Wei grabbed the door without thinking, yanked the handle, and was shoving family members through the threshold before he even thought to wonder if the door was locked.

Judging by the distinct lack of space that had them all squished up against each other in the dark, the room probably _was_ a closet. That was good for their immediate escape plan, but bad for elbowroom as, the second the door clicked shut behind Wei, everyone was stuck pressed up against each other trying not to breathe too loud. With the lack of lighting, Wei couldn't tell whose toes he was stepping on, though he was pretty the elbow in his side belonged to Cheng.

Despite some minor wiggling, no one moved as the sound of footsteps came closer and closer. By the time they were right outside the door, Wei was fairly sure that it was a small group of people (three or five, maybe? Who could tell?) instead of just one guard, which made him doubly glad that they had dived for cover because with only Uncle Bai in any real form of fighting condition he highly doubted they could have handled a hallway skirmish.

The footsteps had long since faded before anyone dared to move too much, but eventually the uncomfortable wiggling got more pronounced and he could feel someone squirming around in the dark, squeezing between people–

"Hold on," his father's voice said in the darkness, startlingly loud after all the quiet, "I think I've found a light switch…"

"Wait–" Meiling cried out, probably thinking about all the _other_ types of switches that might be in a strange room in a military hangar that would very much be not good to flip when you were hiding, but before she could get anything else out there was a soft, electric hum, and above their heads a lightbulb flickered to life.

Upon inspection it was confirmed that, yes, they were indeed in a supply closet of some kind. Also, apparently it was Uncle Bai's foot he was standing on. And, oh yes, that definitely _was_ Cheng's elbow.

It took a good five minutes to do a thorough search of the contents of the shelves around them since movement was pretty restricted with the six of them all packed together. It was Meiling who eventually gave a muted cheer and tugged a box of uniforms from the bottom shelf with a victorious arm pump and nearly clocked their father in the face. As it turned out, all of the boxes on the lower two shelves on the left wall contained unused uniforms, all smelling of the factory they had been made in and moth balls.

It took even longer to sort through the uniforms enough to find some that fit Cheng and their father well enough to pass. Uncle Bai's took some searching since his shoulders were broad enough to use as a raft, but they did find one eventually. Their mother nearly conceded defeat altogether before they finally found something small enough for her short frame, and it was a damn good thing that the standard army uniform was unisex.

Wei and Meiling on the other hand…

"There's no way that we're going to pass." Wei finally deadpanned, even though Meiling was still rifling through the clothes with interest. It was kind of obvious, really. Even if the army _was_ recruiting pretty young these days, there was no way trained soldiers weren't going to bat an eye at two awkward fifteen year olds walking around in uniforms.

So masquerading as an underage recruit definitely wasn't going to work. But, well, the more he thought about it, maybe he didn't need to be masquerading _at all_. Not with Kuvira still out of the palace. If Kuvira wanted to pretend that the avatar was her trusted guest, maybe it was time to play along.

"Look, Mei, don't bother with the uniform," he said, picking her floppy hat off of the ground from where she's dropped it and slipping it back on her head. "I've got an idea."

Changing in the closet was a challenge, but no one was injured in the the end, with the exception of some bumped arms and more stepped on toes. Cheng, Uncle Bai, and their parents' discarded clothes were left buried in the bottom of one of the uniform boxes where they weren't likely to be discovered within the next couple of hours. They had had to keep their original shoes, unfortunately, and while Uncle Bai's usual police issued boots passed well enough, Wei really hoped that no one bothered to look down too hard.

When they walked down the hall this time, they walked in rows of two. Uncle Bai and their father walked in front, the picture of confident soldiers with somewhere to be. Cheng and their mother took the rear, looking notably less confident in their new attire. Wei and Meiling were sandwiched in the middle, dressed in the same street clothes that had come in with.

Now that they were doing more walking and less sneaking, they noticed numbers above each door on the left side of the hallway marking which hangar they lead to. The first three were marked with fours, but the forth one down switched over to five–just the one they wanted.

"This is a really dumb idea," Meiling whispered as they came to the door.

Wei, though not exactly _confident_ in this latest idea, couldn't help feel a bit offended. "Says the one who came up with all of _this_ ," he hissed back, waving vaguely to everything around them. Meiling, like the mature young adult she was, stuck her tongue out at him, and he wanted to come up with another retort, except he was so tense now that he couldn't be sure his voice wouldn't squeak embarrassingly. In any case, when he happened to glance at his twin's hands they were shaking like leaves in the wind, and any sour words he had died in his throat.

Their father hesitated with his hand on the door handle, like he wanted to say something, but ended up just shaking his head and pushing it open.

They came out on a metal landing that ran along the side of the massive hanger in front of them, suspended two stories in the air. The railing was the only thing that kept Wei from stumbling over the edge when he got so distracted at the view before him that he tripped over his own foot coming in.

Hangar Five was…huge, for lack of a better word. The place was easily three times the size of the Imperial throne room, which prior to this had been the biggest singe room that he had ever been in. But the incredible thing…the _spectacular_ thing was the display of machinery lined up in neat rows packing the room from one end to the other.

Mecha suits. Wall to wall, state-of-the-art, almost brand new mecha suits.

Next to him, Meiling let out a stunned breath. "Kyoshi's _balls_."

Wei couldn't really think of anything to one-up that, so he settled for, "I don't think Kyoshi _had_ balls, sis."

And, despite the fact that her hands were still clearly shaking, Meiling turned and smirked at him. "Well she does _now_."

The sudden rush of heat to his face was almost worse than the nervous knot in his stomach. Almost.

"Um, guys," Cheng said, eying the rows of mechas with noticeable doubt. "Just so we're clear, you said the plan was to hitch a ride out of the hangar, right?"

"Of course," Meiling said, and, oh, their parents were starting to cast some rather doubtful looks now.

"How the blazes do you 'hitch a ride' with a fully manned mecha unit?" Cheng demanded.

"Oh, no, I guess I wasn't clear enough there," Meiling said lightly, and Wei knew damn well that she had been intentionally vague. "We're not stowing away–that would be impossible! We're going to drive it out ourselves."

Collectively all three adults present opened their mouths to protest, but before anyone could get a word out, there was a shout from the other end of the platform, and two soldiers were hustling over to them, looking clearly irritated.

"What are you doing up here just standing around?" One, a stern faced woman with a hard jawline, demanded, eyeing Uncle Bai and their father distastefully. "Prep started an hour ago! Which unit are you from?" Her eyes slid to Wei and Meiling, and her frown drew even further down on her face. "And who are the damn civilians?"

"Actually, ma'am–" Uncle Bai started, but Wei placed a hand on his shoulder and shoved past him and his father to stand in front of the group all on his own. _Well, here goes nothing._

The way he figured, none of them could lie well enough to get off without suspicion, and if they wanted to get through this step of the plan they needed to be able to move freely without some official goatdogging their steps. If they were going to do that, something needed to distract these officers away from the fact that the rest of the family didn't quitefit the bill for trained military personnel. Something, or rather some _one_.

Ignoring the pounding in his chest as best as he could, Wei straightened his back and puffed up his chest in the best imitation of every egocentric schoolboy he had had to deal with. Summoning every bit of audacity and obnoxiousness in his body, Wei looked right into the female officer's eyes.

"Who am _I_?" He demanded, laying sarcasm on so heavy that it could crush a small animal. " _I_ 'm the spirits damned avatar! You know, Spirit Bridge, balance keeper for the whole damn world, the empress's _honored_ guest, or so I _thought_. Just who the blazes are _you_?" his entire body was shaking. He hoped it looked more like self-righteous fury rather than gut-wrenching terror.

It must of worked because the lady in front of them looked taken aback.

"I had heard rumor that the avatar was a guest of the palace, but…" she looked to her fellow soldier, "have you heard anything about this?"

The man shook his head meekly.

"Look, lady," Wei snapped with as much force in his voice as he could muster, "I don't have time to deal with this! My sister and I were invited _by the empress herself_ to view the new mecha units coming in tonight. Personally, I know _I_ sure wouldn't want to be the one who has to tell her that there was a change of plans because someone too low on the payroll to know about my schedule was walking around throwing red tape at my feet and interrupting her plans!"

The woman paled visibly, but still looked a bit skeptical. "How do we know that really are who you say you are?"

A nervous laugh escaped Wei's lips, but luckily the slight note of hysteria in it seemed to come across as irritation. He glanced back at Meiling, glad to let go of the officer's eye contact for a moment.

"You hear that, Mei? They don't believe I'm the avatar!"

Meiling, who was by far better at acting anyway, grinned widely. "Well, you know, you really don't look that impressive when your eyes aren't all glowy."

 _Ooh, nice idea._ "What, are you suggesting I go into the avatar state? _Here_?" He looked back at the officers, both of whom looked pretty nervous now. He adopted a thoughtful look. "Hmm, I don't think it would be a very good idea with all of this expensive equipment, but I guess if I _really_ have to prove it."

"T-That won't be necessary!" The female officer said, clearly losing composure now. "I think I do recall reports that the avatar was here with his sister, anyway, so…But, sir," _Oh wow, she actually called me_ sir _,_ "it isn't safe for you two to be wandering around here without an officer to assist."

Wei snorted. Actually snorted. "What do you think I have these four lackwits for?" he motioned to his family around him, hoping that they looked enough like they had some clue what was going on. "You think I'm dumb enough to walk around _alone_ when there could be rebel forces sneaking around wanting to kidnap me? Use your head!"

The woman chewed her lip, resistance crumbling. "The new units won't arrive for at least another half hour, sir. Wouldn't you rather wait somewhere more comfortable?"

Wei waved his hand dismissively. "What, and miss the chance to look at military issue mecha units up close and personal?" He nodded to the mechas currently housed in the hangar. "I'm a bit of an engineering geek myself–wouldn't miss a chance to get a first hand look up close. Plus it'll give me something to better compare the new units with when they do come in. That shouldn't be a problem, right? Not if we're just looking around." She hesitated, and he laid on his most charming smile. "After all, it would be easier protecting the empire if I knew the technology I had at my back, right?

"Of course, sir," she said, voice still a bit strained. "The current units will be heading out in about fifteen minutes. Let me know if we can be of any assistance."

"Of course," Wei said, still staring her down.

The two soldiers bowed deeply and then all but scurried off back towards where they had come from, shouting something to some of the officers below about an escorted guest coming in.

The second the soldiers were out of sight, Wei fell back and caught himself on the railing, breathing hard.

"Shit," he breathed, "that actually _worked_."

Meiling was leaning beside him trembling…with laughter. "Oh, oh wow," she chortled, "that was _hilarious_!"

"It's not funny!" Wei snapped, but there wasn't enough venom left in his voice to really fight back. He heard a snort from above them and saw Cheng shaking with unheard laughter as well, adding insult of injury.

"T-They actually fell for that," he gasped between chuckles, "'Avatar state' my ass, they totally could have called your bluff!"

"But they didn't!" Wei defended, pushing himself back onto his feet.

"Enough," Ling Yuan, unlike his children, did not look amused. "We don't have time for this." He zeroed in on Meiling sharply. "Now what do you mean about _driving_ a mecha unit out of here?"

"Yeah, kid," Uncle Bai said, rubbing the back of his head. "I know you two know a lot about these things, and, yeah, I can metalbend, but this isn't just something you can jump into without actual piloting experience."

Wei and Meiling exchanged a surprised look. "Uh," Meiling said, "Uncle Bai, what exactly do you think Wei and I were _doing_ with that mecha unit we sold?"

Uncle Bai stared blankly back, ignoring their parents' startled exclamations. After a moment, he covered his face with his hands. "Patronizing one of the trained fighter pilots?"

Wei chewed his lip nervously. It was a fairly common trend for pilots coming from the Lower Ring who couldn't afford the cost of upkeep and hangar usage to get picked up by patrons from the Middle and Upper Rings for a share of the profits. Given that Uncle Bai had trained Wei personally in earthbending with no logical reason to believe that he could metalbend, it actually was a much more logical conclusion to believe that the two of them had been acting as patrons rather than participating themselves.

"You two _weren't_ just patrons, were you?" Uncle Bai asked from behind his hand.

"Ah, well, no, actually," Meiling admitted, looking appropriately sheepish.

"What is going _on_?" Their father demanded sharply, clearly not happy to be being ignored. Meiling and Wei both flinched.

Uncle Bai removed the hand from his face and placed it on their father's shoulder. "Brother, there's no easy way to say this–I can't really believe _I'm_ saying this. Ling, your children are a couple of delinquents who fight mechas for sport."

A strange look crossed Ling Yuan's face. While his wife let out a scandalized gasp and his eldest son stood slack jawed at the news, Ling stood staring at his two children with the look of a man too tired and too used to outrageous news from the past month to really truly feel anything but the numbness of an exhausted and exasperated authority figure who could use a stiff drink.

Meiling opened her mouth to say something, but their father raised his hand to cut her off. He shifted his gaze back to the rows of war machines standing before him, and then back to his children again.

"So, let me get this straight," he said slowly, a dangerous deliberateness hanging on each word. He turned those empty eyes on Wei. "You, son, have the experience necessary to pilot one of those out of here."

"Uh, yes," Wei said, very much wanting to bend a hole in the ground to sink into.

"We can't just–" Cheng started. Their father turned and _looked_ at him, and the words just kind of seemed to die in his throat.

"Right," Ling Yuan stated, rubbing his temples. "Well. We are standing in an underground hangar full of mecha suits. We apparently have a fully trained mecha pilot. It's not like turning back is much of an option now, anyway, so, let's steal a damn mecha unit."

"Ling," Uncle Bai said, somewhat nervous, "Are you–"

The man held up his hand, stopping him in his tracks. "We don't have much time. Let's…let's just get out of this thrice damned place." His eyes sharpened, and he pinned Wei with a dangerous look, "Then we will have _words_."

Understandably, there was little conversation after that.

They made it off of the platform and managed to mingle with the soldiers running around wrapping up maintenance on the mechas without a disturbance, though a couple of curious glances were thrown their way. Apparently word had spread that the avatar was visiting the hangar. Which was…kind of good in that people seemed to be giving them their space and deliberately trying _not_ to stare at them too much. Wei just really hoped that Kuvira wouldn't be showing up at the palace any time soon to derail their cover story.

Wei marveled at the mecha units even more now that they were walking among them, getting a first hand view. They were significantly bigger than the ones seen in the underground fights, but, then, there was no real need for subtlety when you were marching these things out in military formations to defend the borders and put down unrest. They were at least two stories taller than the twins' garage-built unit anyway, with thicker platinum plating and larger cockpits that, according to the few mecha related articles he had found in the imperial library, were capable of housing not only the pilot but also two or three technicians to make sure everything operated smoothly.

"Wow," Meiling noted under her breath, "the mobility range on these things must suck."

It was a true enough observation; the thicker plating might keep the units from getting damaged as easily, but it was also enough to limit the movement capabilities at the joints, which mean that there would be no quick dodging or weaving of any sort.

"They're more meant or long range attack than what we're used to," he whispered back. And, boy, could he see why gun attachments weren't allowed in the fighting arenas. The massive barrels attached to the right arm of each unit looked _wicked_ , though definitely not as intimidating as the one Wei had stared done the barrel of in his dream last night.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" A voice asked, nearly causing all of them to jump out of their skin. They were paused at the edge of the fifth row of mecha units, staring down the lines. A man dressed in a simple, gray jumpsuit with the Earth Empire's military insignia blazed on its chest was leaning against the leg of the nearest unit, watching them with a wide grin on his face.

 _One of the pilots,_ Wei figured, which really was a no brainer considering the number of people dressed like him running around the place and shouting instructions at the techs working on the units.

Perfect.

"Uh, yeah!" Wei said, not having to fake the impressed tone of his voice. "They're massive!"

The pilot–black haired, solid as a boulder, and cocky if his posture was any kind of clue–gave them a toothy smile, as if he had personally constructed the thing. (It was a smile Wei knew well from seeing Meiling wear it–probably with better cause.)

"Yeah, the Model Tens are pretty sweet. Kind of a shame they're being retired, if you ask me!" He walked towards them, bowing with shallow politeness. "Could it be that the avatar is a mecha geek?"

A choked sound that might have been a laugh came vaguely from Cheng's direction only to be cut off abruptly, which meant that someone had probably had the decency to step on his foot.

Wei smirked. "You could say that. Me and my sister both are, actually." The pilot's gaze shifted to Meiling briefly, curious, and his smile grew even wider. Maybe they could make this work after all. "The empress invited us to get a look at the newer units when they come in, but between you and me I'd really like to see the older ones before they're decommissioned."

"A man after my own heart," the pilot said, gazing at the unit behind him fondly before turning back to them. "The name's Bohai, by the way. Let me know if I can help you guys in any way."

"Wei Yuan," Wei said. Because, well, he had as good as given it out anyway when he announced he was the avatar, and they couldn't paint much bigger of a target on their backs as it was. "Actually…we were hoping to maybe get a closer look at everything, but, well, it looks like everyone's just about ready to roll out, so I guess we're too late." He did his best to look crestfallen and prayed that the idiot took the hint.

Bohai hummed thoughtfully. "Well, Chun, my technician, just finished up diagnostics and I have to run grab a replacement part from him before we leave, but…well, as long as we're quick about it, I don't see why anyone had to _know_ about it." He winked, not so surreptitiously, at Meiling and him.

"Really?" Meiling squealed. "You mean it?"

"Sure!" Bohai said, looking almost as excited as she did. "Why not? It's not everyday you meet the _avatar_!"

Meiling and Wei shared a look once the pilot's back was turned and fist pumped the air together. This phase of the plan was going much more smoothly than expected.

There was a ladder leading up to the back of the mecha unit's head, where a hatch lead to the cockpit. Bohai didn't seem to think it weird when Wei's supposed 'guards' followed them up the ladder and inside. Or, rather, if he did he didn't have the balls to say anything about it.

"Woooow!" Meiling gasped as they climbed into the cockpit, family trailing behind and visibly trying to look like they had done this before. "there's so much room in here!"

It was true. With the seven of them, there was just enough room for all of them to stand in a ring around the perimeter of the cockpit among several maintenance panels (for the techs, no doubt) while Bohai stood in a slightly raised platform in the center with just enough room to metalbend without hitting someone in the face. Notably, there weren't any harnesses for the pilot to strap himself in with.

"What happens if the mecha has to bend over," Wei asked, cringing at the thought, "does everyone just go flying around the cockpit?"

Bohai laughed lightly. "Oh, well these units aren't really capable of that type of maneuvering since we're mostly for artillery. Flexibility is more left to the smaller units."

"Fascinating," Wei said. Before he could say more, a buzzing signal tone rang through the hangar twice, and all of the other pilots outside went scrambling for their units, technicians and soldiers finishing up whatever they were doing and moving to the sides of the room.

"Departure in five minutes," a voice said over the intercom.

"Drat," Bohai said, snapping his fingers, "I better hurry get that part from Chun. Sorry, avatar, looks like that's all for today."

"Aw," Wei said, trying not to stare as Uncle Bai crept up behind the pilot while they were talking. "That's a shame, you know, I really had a couple more questions to ask."

"Yeah, well, come see me once the new units are all settled," Bohai said. "Maybe I could work something ou–" Bohai's eyes went wide and dazed before rolling up into his head as he crumpled to the ground. Uncle Bai stood behind him, hand still poised in the sharp chop to the back of the head he had just delivered.

"This is okay, right?" Uncle Bai asked. Everyone was too busy staring at the unconscious body to give an immediate response. "We didn't need him for anything, did we?"

"Uh, no," Wei said, and if he hadn't been feeling a little queasy before, he certainly was now. "That's um…good job…"

"Poor, Bohai," Meiling lamented. Their mother had already leaned down and was tearing the sleeve of her under shirt to tie the man up with. Uncle Bai strolled to the other side of the cockpit and pulled the hatch closed, locking it into place.

"Right," he said. "You two delinquents are the experts here. What do we do to get this thing running?"

"On it," Meiling said, sprinting over to the control panel in the front. And, damn, did she sound excited. Wei was usually the one to run start up since, well, there was only room for the pilot in their old unit, but if Meiling wanted a piece of the action now that she had a front row seat, well, who was he to stop her?"

"Just sit tight, you guys," Wei said to the others. "Actually, literal sitting might be good–try to stay out of direct view of the windshield. I don't think anyone would be interested enough to look inside, but we don't want one of the other pilots to see how many people we've got in here."

The unit hummed to life beneath his feet as Meiling switched the power on, and he took up position on the risen platform in the center, feeling more comfortable in his surroundings than he had been for the past month an a half.

"You good for this?" Meiling tossed the question over her shoulder. "It's been over a while–you sure you aren't rusty?"

Wei laughed dryly. "You're asking me that _now_? It's fine. I'll be fine…it just may be a bit bumpy at first."

* * *

Fact: in order to move military equipment to and from the Upper Ring without disrupting the city transit systems, man-made tunnels had been erected underneath the city shortly after Empress Kuvira's rise to power. These tunnels all ran outwards from the palace to the stretch of land between the Lower Ring and the city's outermost fortification that had previously been used for farming but had steadily been taken over by military training facilities, train and airship stations, and urban sprawl. These tunnels acted as both highways for military operations and evacuation routes in case of catastrophe.

That was handy because Wei Yuan considered Kuvira's intent to use him like a low level Pai Sho tile a pretty big catastrophe.

Maneuvering the larger mecha unit was indeed bumpy at first. The mechanics didn't feel very different overall from what he was used to, but the sheer mass of the metal pieces that had to be bent in order to walk around was significantly more than it took to move their own little unit. Wei counted his blessings that all they would be doing here was walking in a straight line. Trying to fight in a giant like this would definitely get exhausting fast.

Their first wobbling steps forward didn't seem to draw much attention from surrounding pilots, though the person next to them in the line-up did give him a nasty look when Wei almost side swiped them when stepping forward to file into line once the formation got to their row.

From there it was–though Wei hated to think it–pretty smooth sailing. They entered the tunnel without a hitch, walking in a quick but not uneasy pace along a long, metal hallway, lit occasionally by familiar green crystals. The walls were sleek and mostly featureless except for the fact that every now and then bold letters were painted on the walls, advertising what ring and district they were currently walking beneath. Sometimes there was an opening off to the side that lead to an enormous elevator that looked like it could lift three mechas to the top at once.

"In case of an invasion or uprising, probably," Uncle Bai said in a hushed tone, even though there was no way anyone could hear them unless Wei turned the radio mic on. "That way they can disperse troop quickly and effectively throughout the city."

The second they passed by the words 'Inner-Middle Ring Boundary Line' Wei released a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding. He glanced to the right, curious, and noticed that another elevator was located right after the sign, just as he had anticipated.

Personal opinions about the Empress aside, there were several good things that had come about from her rise to power. One of which, at least in Wei's opinion, was the elimination of the famous dividing walls of Ba Sing Se. Not even a month after Kuvira's ascension, what sections of the walls remained after the Red Lotus' 'liberation' of the city were officially torn down, leaving only the wall separating the Lower Ring from the miles of former farmland that surrounded the city, and the outermost defensive wall itself. Despite this, even fifteen years later, few people had the courage (or funds) to build in the spaces where the walls once stood, leaving rings of empty space between all three sections of the city–social and economic walls that were proving to be much more resilient than their physical counterparts. Wei supposed that the unused space made a good spot for deploying mecha units in a pinch, since there would be plenty of room and little risk of damaging property.

There was no real way of knowing what time it was while walking. There was no obvious clock in the mecha unit's controls, and their mother had forgotten the watch she had brought with her in the pocket of her street clothes. A little while after they had passed the boarder between the Inner and Middle rings their captive pilot came to, and after a solid minute of cursing and thrashing, Li Hua gave up another sleeve so that Uncle Bai could gag him and bind his feet. For a long while it was blissfully silent.

It felt like they walked for hours under the Middle Ring, and Wei wondered almost constantly if they had passed underneath their house, the restaurant, or even the school. He wondered if he would ever see those places again. Probably not.

The sign reading 'Middle-Lower Ring Boundary Line' was just barely visible up ahead when the radio cracked to life. Wei jumped and nearly slipped and fell on his ass.

"Unit 547, do you read?"

Wei gaped at the panel rising from the left part of the platform he was bending on, where the radio button was flashing. Then he turned to gape at his parents, unsure what to do.

"Damn it, Bohai," a different, more frazzled voice came over the comm, "this is Chun! Pick up your damn radio!"

Slowly, their father rose to his feet and walked towards the button for the mic, signaling everyone else to keep quiet. Wei gaped at _him_. It was all he could do to keep the mecha's joints moving forward, trying his best to concentrate on the shifting of metal gears and plates under his body's guidance instead of the words being spoken.

"Bohai, here," Ling Yuan said over the radio, voice pitched a bit higher and lighter to mimic the pilot's speech from earlier. It wasn't very close, but hopefully static would cover most of the difference. The actual pilot, lying a few feet away, was struggling against his bonds and making muffled sounds of protest. After a threatening look from Uncle Bai he slumped back against the wall again, looking resentful.

"Your techs say you forgot to finish your maintenance, before leaving, Pilot," the first voice from the radio said.

"Ah, well," their father said, "I figured it would be fine? Didn't want to hold up the line, sir."

"Didn't want to hold up the–" Chun's voice cut in, clearly irritated, "Your left ankle joint is still stalling, you dumbass!" Beads of sweat gathered on Wei's face. He had though the resistance from that foot was just because he still wasn't used to the weight of this thing. That was going to be a problem if they had to run in this hulking thing… "It takes, like, two seconds to put the replacement part in! Two seconds!"

Their father let out a puff of air that could have been mistaken for a laugh over the radio but was in reality more of a sound of distress. "Oh, well, it's been holding up _fine_. Besides, its not like we're going to be doing anything too strenuous here…"

An irritated sigh came over the line. The first voice said, "Protocol is protocol, Pilot. I'm having someone meet you the second you get to the hangar in the outer district. Let your techs do their _job_ , sir!"

"Oh yeah," Chun cut in, "and why in Kyoshi's name did you leave Tech Diyu behind? He was supposed to go _with you_ to make sure that we really _did_ get all the kinks worked out of that left leg function so he could fix it if it didn't take!"

"Um," Ling Yuan said, clearly coming to the end of his quick thinking.

He might have been able to come up with something anyway, given an opportunity. Unfortunately, just as he started to say "Ah, well, the thing is," Meiling sneezed. Loudly.

The line went dead quiet.

"Pilot Bohai," the first voice said, clipped and slow. "If your technicians are both still here in Hangar Five…who do you have with you in that mecha unit?"

Wei nearly tripped again. Instead he gritted his teeth and willed the units in front of him to move faster.

"That's…well…" Their father tried, but right then there was a disturbance over the line, and a voice in the background that sounded distinctly familiar gasping "Hey, have any of you guys seen the avatar and his sister around? Theyseem to have disappeared!"

The second his father pulled his finger away from the mic button, Wei tossed back his head and shouted "Shit!" and a red light started flashing. A voice came over the loudspeaker to the entire tunnel.

"Attention!" the voice echoed through the hallway. It echoed through Wei's bones. "The command for an immediate halt has been issued. Repeat, the command for an immediate halt has been issued! We have a suspected stowaway situation."

The mechas in front of them stopped abruptly, and Wei had to pull back with all he could to keep the momentum of their unit's movement from sending them all crashing forwards. " _Shit_!"

"What do we do?" Cheng hissed.

"I need a location on Unit 547," the intercom voice said.

Wei weaved his hands through his hair tightly, looking around for inspiration. He found it painted on the side of the wall, right next to a giant elevator shaft.

"Uncle Bai," he breathed, "how's your metalbending?"

His uncle followed his gaze. He swallowed loudly, but nodded, moving to start opening the escape hatch.

"Sir," another voice said over the radio, this time on the open line. "This is Unit 546," the unit in front of them was turning towards them. Wei braced himself, reaching out to feel at the metal gears and joints of the robotics below him. "We have a visual."

"Hold on," Wei shouted, and then he moved, jerking the torso joint and heaving it around. He shifted the legs until they were suddenly facing the elevator, and then he shifted his stance and shot his arms out, willing mechanical legs to carry them forward fast.

It was probably the fact that he wasn't a licensed mecha pilot that saved them. There were certain protocols you were trained to maintain when operating a military issued mecha. After all, these things were expensive, and there was no need to trash your unit trying to take down an enemy you could just as easily shoot at, especially when there were about a thousand other units that had your back.

Wei wasn't trained to drive a military issued unit. He was trained to fight dirty, fight fast, and _win_.

He barely stayed standing on the platform as they swung around, and he heard shouts as the rest of the family went tumbling into each other, only to slam into the back of the cockpit as the unit slid into the elevator, chest colliding with the side of the elevator shaft hard enough to make Wei's teeth rattle. Uncle Bai wrenched the hatch open just in time to see the units immediately in front of and behind them in the line up staggering towards them more slowly, gun arms pointed directly at them.

"Stop!" one of the pilots demanded over their unit's intercom.

 _They can't shoot in here,_ Wei realized. _These are spirit-vine powered guns! They'd blow up everyone in the whole tunnel!_

"Uncle Bai!" Wei shouted.

Not needing any encouraging, Uncle Bai leaned out the hatch and slid into a stance not dissimilar from the one he'd seen Kuvira open with when she was lifting a particularly heavy chunk of rock to throw at him. Then he made a labored, lifting motion, and suddenly the metal floor of the elevator was lifting upwards.

The elevator didn't move that fast, though that was likely because the weight of the giant mecha standing on top and because it was being forcefully being bent into function. Once the platform was completely above the tunnel entrance and safely surrounded by stone, Wei abandoned the control platform and moved to the hatch to help his uncle. Even with the two of them working at it, the combined weight of the elevator and the unit was damn heavy, but they managed to speed things up a bit.

"Get back to the controls!" Uncle Bai bit out after a couple of moment, panting and heaving. "The second we break the surface, we've got to high-tail it out of here!"

"Oh, we're doomed," Cheng lamented, his face buried in his hands. " _Doomed_."

Wei reluctantly left his uncle's side. When he got back to the control platform, Meiling was up and active, frantically searching the control panel for…something.

"What are you looking for?" He demanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Meiling snapped back in response.

"No! Enlighten me!"

Light spilled in from above as their elevator hit the surface, and Wei, shaking and already way too tired for what he was about to do, braced himself again.

 _Think of it like a mecha fight._ He told himself, ignoring the sweat dripping in his eyes. _Just another mecha fight. The stage is just a little…bigger._

"I'm looking for the manual controls," Meiling said, sounding like she was talking to herself more than anyone, now.

 _Just another mecha fight._ "The controls for _what?_ "

They slid above the surface to face the empty stretch of land around the elevator shaft. Above them, there was nothing but stars. In front of them stretched the maze of the Lower Ring.

There was the sound of a lever being pulled sharply into place and a low hum emanated from somewhere in the right arm that he could feel shivering through the mechanics and down his spine. Meiling let out an excited whoop.

"The controls for the _gun_ of course!"

* * *

Fact: the introduction of both the satomobile and other large pieces of machinery in need of transportation resulted in most of the cities around the world undergoing major development projects to install new road systems and expand current roads in order to make them more drivable. Ba Sing Se was not most cities. With centuries of architecture in place and facing overcrowding as it was, the Lower Ring had already been spilling beyond its wall into the outer farming districts as it was when the suggestion was made to expand the roadways. With the amount of money that would have had to be paid in compensation and the amount of relocation and replacement housing that would have had to be built, these suggestions were struck down over and over again, and the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se retained its narrow streets while building upward into towering apartments and business complexes. From the standpoint of a satomobile driver, this was inconvenient during rush hour. From the standpoint of a military issue mecha unit, the Lower Ring was both a maze and a death trap.

Wei knew this as he stared at the tangle of urban development before him. He knew smooth navigation was impossible.

In that moment, he couldn't really bring himself to care.

"Hang on," he said. He dug deep in his pants pockets and, finding what he wanted, slid his goggles over his forehead. "This is _really_ going to suck."

"Wait, a sec," Cheng said as they jolted forward, "Why do you need goggles if its an enclosed cockpit?"

Wei was distracted with edging the unit towards the edge of the Lower Ring so Meiling jumped in before he could.

"Ah, well it's actually kind of a funny story!" Meiling told him. "See, in the first fight we were in–"

"Wha– _Shut up_!" Wei shouted before she could continue. "I'm kind of trying to save our necks here! I could do with a little more quiet!"

He figured they had a couple of moments before the mecha units beneath the earth got the elevator working again since they had probably messed up some of the machinery by forcefully bending it to their will. The good news was, there were currently no registered and battle ready mechas back at the palace to give chase, and he seriously doubted that anyone was going to chase them into the Lower Ring in a mecha suit anyway. The bad news…he could hear airship in the distance.

Not bothering to look back, he tugged the goggled down over his eyes and plunged them forward into the bowels of Ba Sing Se.

There were a number of problems with charging a mecha unit into the Lower Ring. The most obvious was he narrow roads, which, in most places, barely had enough room for four lanes of traffic. Coupled with tall buildings that had built up on the sides of the streets, Wei was having a difficult time squeezing through places without scraping the siding off of apartments and businesses left and right. Which lead to the number one problem which was–

"Look out! It's coming right for us!" A terrified shout pierced Wei's ears even high up as he was, followed by screams and the sound of asphalt and abandoned satomobiles crunching under the mecha unit's feet as the few people still up and around at this unholy hour fled the streets and dove into storefronts.

–the civilians.

"Thank whatever _fucking_ spirits or ancestors or _whatever_ might have their ears open that this isn't anywhere near rush hour!" Wei spat, swerving and having to slam his elbows back in a sharp motion to keep the mecha from skidding into a hotel building as they sprinted through an intersection. Right. Tight maneuvering wasn't going to be much of an option with this unit.

"Language!" Their father shouted, though it seemed more instinctual than anything else.

"People could be getting hurt!" Their mother noted with a creased brow from where she was keeping the unconscious pilot from sliding around.

" _We_ could get hurt!" Wei shot back. "We will get _more than hurt_ , if we don't find a way out of here!"

"Make for the wall!" Meiling suggested, squealing as Wei kept a foot in the air a moment longer than planned to let a satomobile swerve out of the way and set the whole unit off kilter for a moment before he could right them, sending his heart was pounding somewhere next to his uvula.

"I thought you said you had experience driving these things!" Uncle Bai shouted.

"I _do_! Just not through _downtown_!" There was almost no way this could get any worse.

Wei stood corrected a moment later when he felt more than heard a distinctive _thunk_ against the right arm of the unit and swiveled his head around to see figures in pointed hats running along the roof tops around them. _Dai Li_.

They weren't bending rocks at the unit, so Wei couldn't figure out for a moment what the impact had been until a moment later when he saw a metal cord come shooting at them from out of the darkness and then felt another thunk as the hook at the end of the cord failed to find purchase on the platinum plating and slid off.

To make things even better, he heard the sound of airships coming closer. _I could have sworn it took airships a lot longer than this to get up in the air and battle ready!_

"Left!" Meiling shouted, and Wei was suddenly throwing himself to the side to force the mecha to skid left and avoid the statue of Earth King Kui that had seemingly sprouted out of nowhere.

As Wei tugged the foot joints to brace with the shift of weight it took to slow and turn, the left ankle joint stalled and, instead of narrowly sliding around the corner, the mecha unit slid left side first into the statue in front of them. They didn't go all the way over, fortunately, and the cockpit stayed just upright enough that Wei managed to stay on the bending platform without toppling over. From the sounds of things though, most everyone else had gone tumbling.

Cursing up a storm that was probably going to have their mother cleaning his mouth out with soap for the next month, Wei strained his muscles, contorting his fingers so that he felt more like a puppet master than a bender. With the self-control and determination of one who had faced far nastier falls in the fighting arena, Wei forced the mecha back under control and got its feet back under it, righting them.

The collision cost precious seconds they didn't have with Dai Li following them. They made it about another block, and then there was a frightening hissing sound as metal cords flew through the air. He saw it coming a split second before impact, barely soon enough to shout at everyone to get down. Not long enough to do so himself before the world in front of him turned into an explosion of glass and hot, sharp pain.

* * *

There were a lot of reasons that Wei left the mechanical detail of mecha fighting to Meiling. One key point of which was the undeniable fact that Wei had always been the more hazardous twin, even before firebending came into the picture. His early, clumsy attempts at helping out with the construction of their unit had earned him a multitude of cuts and burns, and after a near miss that had nearly cost him two fingers, Meiling had put her foot down and told him to screw off before he got himself maimed.

They hadn't been able to do many practical practice runs before their first match, lacking in both space and someone to practice with. During their first round in the arena, Wei panicked when the heavily armored mecha he had been up against slipped through his defenses and, instead of a solid strike to the chest, aimed a little too high and accidentally elbowed their unit right where the face would have been on a person: the cockpit. Instead of stepping the unit back and away from the blow, Wei did what he had done in every schoolyard fight he'd ever been in in his life and _froze_ like an _idiot_.

The windshield had shattered directly on impact, and, being strapped into a harness, all he'd been able to do was curl in on himself, shielding his face as best as he could, which was to say, not very well at all.

Wei came out of the experience with lacerations up and down his arms, a particularly nasty cut barely stopping below his left eye that definitely would have blinded him if it had been a centimeter higher, and an absolutely unshakable insistence that he wouldn't go anywhere near a mecha ever again without a good pair of protective goggles.

* * *

The rain of glass settled in mere moments but felt impossibly long as uncomfortable nostalgia rolled over Wei in waves. Then there were two Dai Li agents climbing in from the broken windshield and he was clambering to his feet in a hurry.

The first agent slid into an offensive stance in front of Wei, only to become well acquainted with Uncle Bai's meaty fist.

"I might just be a cop," Uncle Bai said, spitting blood from a bitten cheek, "but that doesn't mean I can't tangle with the best of 'em!" He jerked his head back over his shoulder to Wei, "Get us moving, kid!"

Wei swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.

He knew he must be covered in cuts, but at this point there was so much adrenaline pumping through his veins that Wei wasn't surprised he didn't feel anything. He could still _see_ , and that was all that mattered.

As hard as running through the busiest part of the city in a giant mecha suit was, it was ten times _harder_ when you had your uncle throwing down with two Dai Li agents right in front of you. The first tight corner he had to take he almost missed, and he had to shout at everyone to hold on at the last second as momentum send things pitching forward. One of the agents didn't get his balance fast enough and topped backwards out the now glassless windshield. It was a little easier to navigate after that.

"The wall!" Meiling shouted excitedly. Sure enough, after stumbling through another intersection and elbowing some lovely family's balcony out of existence, Wei saw the Wall looming straight above them, one of the large doors leading to the outer districts standing not far to their right…closed shut.

Uncle Bai finally got the remaining Dai Li agent in a headlock as they broke through the last block of compacted buildings and found the wall looming high above them, the last obstacle between them and freedom.

"Okay," Wei said. He couldn't hear airships flying over anymore– _why_ couldn't he hear airships anymore? _Oh well, worry about it later._ "We're at the wall now, Mei."

"Yeah, we made it!" Meiling punched the air, clearly pleased with herself.

Uncle Bai slammed the struggling Dai Li agent against the wall of the cockpit, sending him sinking down unconscious next to Bohai. Wei didn't want to think of the body count they currently had going. Or the amount of property damage.

"Yeah, Mei, we're here," Wei said, swallowing dryly. The edge of the adrenaline was starting to wear off, leaving dizziness behind in its place. Absently he became aware of the fact that his forehead felt warm and sticky. Bleeding, probably. "Now what?"

Meiling's smile froze, "Ah…well."

"It's _you're_ plan, Mei!" Wei said. Well, shouted, actually. He took a deep breath. Two. More quietly, he asked "What do we do from here?"

Meiling started tugging on her braids, and Wei knew they were in trouble. "Okay, I didn't really get a chance to outline Plan C out this far," she admitted.

"Plan C?" Wei echoed back dumbly.

"Yes, making it through the Lower Ring to the wall was Plan C," she said.

"Well what was Plan B?"

"That was the whole 'escaping through the tunnels in a giant robot suit' thing!"

"Well then what the _fuck_ was Plan A!" Wei demanded. And, oh, he was shouting again. His head was throbbing, and, okay, he wasn't feeling so hot.

"Children!" their father's voice cut through their argument. "Now is hardly the time to be _bickering_!"

As if to emphasize his point, a voice came from above them. It was not a divine voice, not one of reason. In fact, it was a voice that Wei had grown unfortunately familiar with over the past month and a half.

"Wei Yuan," Empress Kuvira's voice boomed from a megaphone down from where she stood up on the wall looming above them, "is that you down there? What an unexpected surprise."

"Oh, fuck me." Wei snarled.

"Imagine my surprise," the Empress continued, and he didn't need to be able to see her to know that she wasn't smiling, "when my airship arrived back in range of the city only to be informed by radio that both you and one of my mecha units had gone missing."

Wei fumbled for the intercom button and held the mic up to his lips in a shaky hand. On the one hand, he felt exhausted andwas absolutely terrified shitless right now. On the other hand, Wei was confident in the knowledge that there was very little he could say or do to make this situation worse. "What can I say, Your Eminence?" He said over the mic, "Your house is boring."

"I'm extremely disappointed in you, Wei," Kuvira said, and he almost laughed at how ridiculously like a scolding parent she sounded. "What have I possibly done that you would be so desperate to leave my hospitality."

"Oh, it's not what you've done to _me_ that I have a problem with," Wei said, mentally tacking on a silent _yet_ at the end of the statement. An idea was taking root in his head. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was the dizziness, but for the first time in over a month, he was feeling a bit daring. "And it's easy for you to talk down to me when you're all the way up there! If you're really so concerned about _my_ concerns, why don't you come down here and talk to me on my level!"

There was a moment of silence. Wei held his breath. Then, from the top of the wall there was a commotion as a shelf of earth emerged from the flat surface of the side of the wall, and the newly created platform began to descend.

"Meiling," Wei hissed, taking his hand off of the mic button on the intercom. "Man the control panel."

His sister raised an eyebrow at him. She blinked slowly, and then her eyes widened in understanding. "Wei…are you sure that that's…?"

Wei grinned, surprising even himself. "Just…trust me okay? I trusted your insane plan to get us this far, right? Let's give _my_ insane plan a shot."

She started pulling on her braids again, but she did as he asked and went to the control panel, hands sliding over the assortments of levers and buttons.

Kuvira's platform stopped at eye level with the mecha unit so that she could stare him down through the broken windshield. As expected, the smirk was gone from her face.

"I'll admit, I'm very curious to find out how you learned how to drive a mecha unit," she said dryly. "Where did you get the experience, I wonder. Or maybe it's just raw talent."

"I'm a talented guy, these days." Wei shrugged. "I'm also not a _idiot_ , you know. If you're trying to convince me to surrender to you, you're doing a piss poor job of it." The guards on either side of Kuvria went slack mouth at his word choice. Well, the empress _had_ insisted he could address her informally.

Kuvira's lips tightened into a hard line. "Wei, you need to understand; everything I'm doing here is for your own well being–"

Someone started laughing. An awful, dry laugh with just a hint of hysteria creeping into that echoed over the intercom for all of the people of the Lower Ring to hear. After a dizzying moment Wei realized that the sound was coming from him and clamped a hand over his mouth to get it to stop.

 _I think I've lost a bit too much blood,_ he thought, cringing internally. But he couldn't let the empress know that. Not if he was going to walk out of here a free man.

"Oh, you're concerned about _my_ wellbeing?" He spat into the mic. Somehow, the steel in his voice was not exaggerated or faked. Riding this wave of _something_ that was lending him confidence, he stared The Great Uniter dead in the eye. "See, that's funny, considering that you're the one who _murdered_ that last avatar!"

There was a gasp somewhere behind him; he couldn't tell who from. Meiling's hands paused over the control panel, her shoulders stiff. But the Empress…Kuvira just stood there, eying him with a look of cold resignation.

"I see." She said. Her hips shifted ever so slightly, the beginning of too many earthbending lessons that he had been on the pummeling end of. Wei caught the motion and thrust his arms forward and up, bringing the right arm of the mecha unit sliding smoothly up to eye level with the ruler of the entire Earth Empire.

"Stop," Wei said sharply, "Don't you dare move!"

Kuvira looked down the barrel of the very gun that she had brought into being, and, for once, her composure and confidence slipped just enough that he could see the shock and outrage beneath.

And that was the beauty of this. The mere fact that Kuvira had been willing to come down on his level to talk to him had been her own way of showing that she didn't believe that he could control this this machine worth a damn. There were ways for people to get ahold of old mecha units or build there own–even the empress would know that. However, even if someone managed it like Wei obviously had, there was no way they could figure out how to use the advanced weapons system attached to it with any kind of speed or accuracy. Not in less than an hour _while driving_ the thing, anyway.

 _You miscalculated, Empress. I might be an awful student, but I'm a_ fast _learner!_

"You wouldn't," Kuvira said, looking at him like she was seeing him for the first time. Maybe she was.

"Meiling," the word was hardly out of his mouth before he felt the spirit-vine gun humming to life, building its charge deep in its barrel.

"Just. Try me." Wei said into the mic, eyes not leaving the empress.

Kuvira watched the pinkish glow building around the gun barrel, her face a stone cold mask.

Wei thought she was going to try to argue with him more, but when she opened her mouth it was only to shout at the soldiers on the wall to open the gate and let them through.

 _Well…shit._ Wei thought, watching the gate open to their right. He carefully walking the mecha unit through the gate, gun arm still pointed at the Kuvira with every step. Robot arms, unlike human arms, did not shake unless you wanted them to.

 _Well, shit_. Wei thought as he watched the gate close behind them, cutting them off their pursuers for the time being.

"Well, _shit_." Wei said to no one in particular. "That actually _worked_." And then he finally gave over to the spinning in his head and collapsed.

* * *

Meiling heard Wei hit the floor behind her and cringed. _Now? You choose_ now _to pass out!_

She wanted to scream. She wanted to hit something. She wanted to slap Wei until he woke up and helped her come up with another plan to get them the rest of the way out of here.

Logically she knew she was being too harsh, but, as with most half-successful plans, logic had gotten lost somewhere back in the Lower Ring.

Letting out a hard puff of air, she switched off the power lever for the spirit-vine weapon and stepped away from the control panel, ignoring the way her hands were trembling. It wasn't like they were going to be able to use the weapon as a bluff again anyway.

(She wondered if it had been a bluff at all with the way Wei had been talking. She hadn't heard him sound that coldly confident in a long time.)

"What now?" their mother wondered, stooping to cradle Wei's head in her arms and wiping blood coated bangs away from his face with a heartbroken look. "They won't stay on that side of the wall for very long."

There was a harsh creaking sound that the exit hatch was pushed open. Uncle Bai stood next to it, and he had a dangerously obstinate look on his face.

" _Now_ ," he said, "you lot are going to get Wei out of here before they have a chance to catch up."

"Bai," their father said, "you can't possibly mean to stay behind."

Uncle Bai set his jaw stubbornly, and Meiling felt her heart beating hard in her chest. "That's exactly what I mean to do." He kicked the side of the cockpit resentfully. "I might not be able to drive this thing nearly as well as your crazy son, but I'm an experienced metalbender, and I can sure as hell do _something_ to keep them distracted while you lot get away."

"Uncle Bai," Meiling said. She had meant for it to come out calm and convincing. Instead it was a hurt choke.

He wouldn't look at her. "This isn't an argument, Ling, it's an order. I'm a damn officer of the law and you have to do what I say!" He quirked his lips into something that wanted to be a smile. "Besides, you know how much of a fuss I've always put up about wanting to fight the system."

"Bai," her mother was crying, holding Wei closed to her, another strip of her shirt torn off and wrapped around his head in an effort to stop the bleeding from the cut above his right goggle. Him and his stupid hazard prone eyes.

"Go," Uncle Bai said. "Don't make me say it again, Ling."

Meiling wanted to fight when her father grabbed her by her sleeve and tugged her towards the exit hatch, but somehow she couldn't quite find it in her. Not while watching Cheng helping their mother carry Wei with those words echoing in her brain:

 _"…you're the one who_ murdered _that last avatar!"_

She had no idea how her brother could know, or if he was even telling the truth or just making a guess. But he had seemed _sure_. Dangerously so.

Uncle Bai brought up a rock pillar for them to step onto, and then safely lowered it to the ground. She saw him turn and walk back towards the metalbending platform, heard the shifting of metal parts as he got a feel for the mecha unit. His turned back was the last glimpse she got of him before her father hurried him forward.

She wanted to fight for Uncle Bai's sake, but she couldn't. Instead, she let herself be lead away.

Meiling let her feet carry her forward, away from the place that would undoubtably change her twin into something unrecognizable, the place that _had_ started changing him already.

The outer districts were mostly slums right beyond the gate–there was no better way of putting it. She had never been to this part of the city before, and she doubted she would remember anything about how it looked beyond the ground passing beneath their feet as they hurried through the shacks around them, curious eyes following from those who had awoken in the commotion or had never been asleep in the first place. They must have looked wild eyed enough that no one bothered them.

They ran until they found the non-passenger train station, a crossing point for all of the supply trains in the empire coming to or from the city. Fortune smiled upon them for once, and one of the trains was just departing, the order for the halting of all outbound vehicles apparently having not reached the outer districts soon enough to stop it. Right as the engine was starting up, their father managed to force the side door on the last car to slide open and he hopped on with Wei right as the wheels began to turn. Meiling had to run with Cheng and their mother to catch up, jumping and catching herself on the door and hauling herself inside behind the others before the train picked up enough speed to leave her in the dust.

The door slid shut behind her, leaving them with the dark and silence. Somehow five people was a lot lonelier than six. Especially when she knew in that horribly reliable place deep down inside that the number was only likely to shrink from there.

"So," her father said before she could get too comfortable with the silence. "It's still a long time until morning, and we have no way of knowing when this train will stop."

They all shifted in the darkness, settling in for the long haul. Meiling felt her father's eyes rest on her, and a moment later, his hand clapped down on her shoulder, stiff with the tension of the day, but comforting nonetheless.

Well, until he spoke anyway.

"Now," he said, sighing in that heavy way that meant he was much too sober for the conversation he was about to have, "I was wondering if a certain delinquent child of mine could explain to me how on this good earth my son learned how to pilot a screaming metal war machine."

It was going to be a long night yet.


	4. Cutting Ties

**Violence warning for this chapter! Seriously guys.**

 **Two more character view-points have been added this chapter, so point-of-view alternation will be more common from here on out.**

 **Anyway, sorry this chapter took a bit longer to produce than I had intended; this month was busier than usual and unfortunately it cut into my editing/revising time so apologies if this chapter is a bit rougher than usual. Thanks as always for everyone's reviews, favorites, and readership!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 : Cutting Ties**

* * *

The Great Uniter was on the warpath.

The palace was a cacophony of sound as messengers, soldiers, and guards scurried every which way, following or delivering orders. The chaos of hastening feet was nearly deafening, and yet General Nianzu still picked out a very distinctive pair of footsteps marching sharply towards his office door, clacking against the polished stone floors with deadly intent.

Empress Kuvira didn't bother knocking. She also didn't bother announcing herself. With the years of painful experience behind their interactions she was all too aware that there was no reason to bother.

"The avatar's gone," she said without preamble. Only then did Nianzu glance up from the mechanics report on the new mecha units they were supposed to have coming in.

"Ah, yes, I thought I heard Wei's name being thrown around out there." He very carefully did not notice the slightly fractured quality to the steel in her eyes. "So the stupid boy really has run off? How on earth did he manage that?"

"With a mecha unit," Kuvira said in that venomously composed voice of hers. "A mecha unit that, if I'm not mistaken, was under _your_ jurisdiction since I trusted you to oversee this month's equipment transfers."

 _Oh dear_. Nianzu took off his reading glasses and set them down on his desk, giving himself a quick moment to consider. Yes that _had_ been his responsibility since Guowei was on leave. Damn him for thinking the supervisors could keep things secure without someone holding their hands.

"So it would seem," he ended up saying. There was no point in blame dodging with the empress. "I'm assuming the brat and his family have already made it out of the city, then?" There was no way the empress would have returned to the palace if she thought there still might be a chance of catching the boy herself; such was her pride.

"All except for one." And, oh, wasn't that interesting. He wondered which poor sap had been unlucky enough to get left behind and whether or not they were even still alive. You never knew, with Kuvira and her moods. "We've put out a warrant for their arrests and will be sending pictures of the family to all of the military depots, check points, and city police heads. The avatar might run, but he won't make it far."

 _So you say–after he's already managed to escape what is supposed to be the most secure city in the world._ He wasn't going to say that of course. Instead he asked, "Are you sure that will be enough? Admittedly, Wei is not a genius, but after working with him for a while I'll admit he _is_ intelligent."

"Of course it won't be enough!" Kuvira snapped, and, ah, yes, there was the temper hidden underneath that composed facade. "Now stop trying to distract me with your rambling and pack your things. You're leaving!"

Nianzu's hand froze where he had been fiddling with a pencil. "Your Eminence?"

"I may have underestimated the avatar this time, but it's not a mistake I will repeat." Her jaw tightened, and there was a flash of something _vicious_ in her eyes that Nianzu definitely would not want to be on the receiving end. "You said yourself, you've been working with Wei on tactics for the past month and half. You know the way he thinks better than anyone here."

Nianzu opened his mouth to protest, but before he could Kuvira leaned in close over his desk. "The avatar wouldn't have escaped in the _first_ place if you had been doing your _job_ properly. It's a very lucky thing for you that I have decided that you're still useful _at all_. So you have two options, Nianzu: you can either go on the road with your own vehicle and a couple of loyal soldiers to help you find and bring me the avatar, or you can go rot in a jail cell for the rest of your miserable existence."

Nianzu stared back at the empress's impassive face. He glanced up at the ceiling, regretting, not for the first time, the day he had enlisted. "Right. I suppose I'll go pack."

* * *

When Wei woke it was to a dark, humid place and the unfamiliarity of a strange bed. He was only stunned for a moment before relaxing bonelessly into the mattress, scattered memories of what had happened floating back to him in pieces.

It took him a couple of moments to push down the horrible thought that they had actually gotten caught and that he was lying in some kind of prison cell. He didn't think the jails in Ba Sing Se had mattresses this big. There was also the fact that there was a bit of moonlight streaming in from a window on the far wall, and as far as he knew the prisons at the palace were underground.

He could feel someone lying next to him in the darkness, breathing lightly in their sleep in a familiar rhythm he was used to from the old days when he had shared a room. _Meiling._

At first he figured that it was the throbbing in his head that had woken him up, but gradually he became conscious of whispered voices coming from beyond the door on the other side of the room.

"…that isn't going to work," his mother's voice said. "We can't just train hop–before long they'll start searching every vehicle to leave and come into the stations, you mark my words."

"Agreed," his father murmured back, "but walking isn't going to be an option either. We'd never make it more than a couple of days, and that's not even taking into account the checkpoints."

"What if we don't head for Fire Nation?" his mother again. "I have some relatives on Kyoshi Island–they usually remain neutral during conflicts."

A heavy sigh. Wei could imagine his father rubbing his temples. "It would be more conceivable–a faster route. But we still would need a safer way to travel."

"If we disguised ourselves, maybe?"

"…It would help but there are too many of us–we're too noticeable. And there's only so much fake names and stolen clothes can cover up."

Wei chewed on his lip in the darkness and wished desperately for sleep to overtake him again. He didn't want to hear this–no one wanted to hear their parents worry. Especially when they were the cause of that worry.

Another sigh from his father, this one even more exhausted than the last. "Bai would know what to do. Or, at least he would have better ideas than this."

 _Uncle Bai's not here?_ Wei was fully awake now. In fact he felt like he had been splashed with ice water.

"I know," his mother's voice was soft. "But Bai made his choice, and we've made it this far because of it." _No, it can't be–_ "Moving forward is the best thing we can do to honor his sacrifice."

Wei felt sharp pain from where his teeth were digging into his lips and a shock of warmth as he drew blood. _No. No, no, no, no._ Uncle Bai couldn't be _gone_. There was no way they could have left him behind! There was no reason–

 _You passed out after making it through the gate,_ the coolly logical part of his mind pointed out. _Kuvira's men were going to be all over that mecha the moment they regrouped and got through the gate. Without a distraction it would have been very unlikely that everyone could have gotten away cleanly on foot._

He guessed Uncle Bai had thought so too.

There were warm tracks running down his cheeks, different from the warmth of the blood in his mouth.

"What we need is a way to escape notice," his father was saying, outside the door and a world away. "My friend Gao used to have some contacts through the Equalist party that could produce…certain documents. We will need money, and a lot of luck for them to still be open and operating, but if we can make it to where they are…"

"What we _need_ is some sleep," his mother said firmly. "We're certainly not going to make it far if we're all exhausted."

A moment later, the door handle opened and his parents walked into the room. Wei froze and tried to even out his breathing so that it didn't sound like he was awake and panicking. There were some rustling sounds as his parents crawled into a bed that he could barely make out on the other side of the room and some extra movement as they settled in.

Wei lied there for a long time, listening to his parents breathing gradually settle into the shallow rhythm of sleep, hardly daring to breathe himself. Only after he was sure that they were dead to the world did he let his mind wonder.

 _Uncle Bai's gone._ He stared into the darkness, trying not to feel. _It's my fault._

Then, minutes or hours later: " _What we need is a way to escape notice."_

Wei didn't know a whole lot about past avatars. From what he did know…avatars were a lot of things, but they were never _subtle_. They couldn't be if they tried.

 _Kuvira is going to be looking for all of us,_ he thought, _but it's_ me _that she's hunting._ Because he was the one who had pulled one over on her. Well, him and Meiling, but she didn't know much about Meiling.

He lied there for maybe a little while longer, heart pounding in his chest like a drum. Then, quietly, he rolled out of the bed.

The wooden floor was cool on his bare feet despite the summer heat spilling in from the window. His legs barely supported his weight, and his stomach churned so hard in protest that he thought he was going to give himself away by being sick all over the floor. Wei had to lean against the wall for a few awful minutes while his head spun and he tried to get his bearings.

He was wearing the same clothes they had escaped the city in, and upon putting his hands in his pockets he found his goggles, safe and sound. There was a cloth wrapped around his forehead, most likely to stop whatever wound was there from bleeding. After a moment of fumbling around along the floor he found his shoes and slipped them on.

He tip-toed across the room and out the door with as little noise as possible, cringing when the door creaked on its hinge. No one stirred in their sleep though, so he figured he was in the clear. The hallway outside their room was long and sported several other doors, most of which were tightly shut and bore the sounds of other sleeping occupants upon listening. They were probably in some cheap inn or hotel.

The last door on the hall before a staircase leading down to what he assumed as the main room stood ajar and turned out to be a bathroom, which Wei gratefully took advantage of. He ended up spending more time in the room than he would have liked, staring at his reflection.

 _I look like shit._ There was just no good way of putting it. There was no dried blood on his face so he figured someone had washed him off earlier, but the white cloth tied around his forehead was stained with plenty of the stuff, making it cling to his skin. There were also a couple of scratched on his face that were mostly scabbed over but by no means pretty, including one just above his left eye. Then of course there was his split lip from earlier and the fact that he looked haggard in general after being chased through Ba Sing Se and nearly caught by the empress herself.

Figuring he could at least clean himself a little, Wei went about carefully removing the wrap from his head and replacing it with a clean white hand-towel that he found in the cupboard under the sink and tore into strips. Between that and washing up his face a little…well, he still didn't look pretty or very presentable in his slept-in clothes, but he figured he probably wouldn't be the worst looking figure on the streets.

There was a light flickering from somewhere down in the main part of the inn–probably one of the owners up getting the kitchen up and running in preparations for breakfast in a few hours–which made Wei reluctant to venture down. Instead he explored the hall until he found another open door, which yielded an unoccupied room. There wasn't much to be found inside, but he did manage to locate a pad of stationary paper and, upon further searching, a pen. He also got a good look out the window and determined that there was a roofed porch that ran along the front of the building and facing what he judged to be a back road with little traffic.

He sat on the edge of one of the unoccupied beds with a pen and paper in his hands. He caught himself about to chew his lip again and thought better of it.

Wei didn't remember later exactly what it was that he wrote on the note he left. Just that it felt like half an explanation, half an apology, and entirely something that he didn't want to dwell on. The clock on the wall read almost half past five in the morning when Wei snuck back into their shared room. He slipped the note onto the nightstand beside the bed his parents were sleeping in, nearly tripping over Cheng, who was curled up on the floor.

For a moment he stood next to the window and looked around the dark room. The sun would be up in an hour or two, but he figured that with the night they had had no one would be waking up for a long while. Plenty of time.

Enough time for a good head start.

Deliberately not thinking too hard about what he was about to do, Wei gently slid the window open, relieved when it didn't catch or stick too much. He slid through the opening, swinging his left foot over the wall first, then his left, out onto the roof of the porch below. Once he was fully through, he quietly pushed the window shut behind him, leaving him sitting in the warm night air. Alone.

It was easy enough finding a way down from the porch without much risk of broken limbs–he had been breaking out of his own house to peruse the Lower Ring for over a year, after all. There weren't even any Dai Li or cops around.

 _Which way?_ He looked up and down the street, and then decided it didn't really matter so long as he found the main road eventually. He didn't have money for another train ride, which might still be an okay option since Kuvira wouldn't have had enough time to send out pictures of him and his family to local law enforcement yet. Maybe he could hitchhike? That was a bit more risky, and he didn't know how kindly the locals viewed strangers out here–didn't really know much about local attitudes outside of Ba Sing Se in general if he was being honest. If worst case he supposed there was always walking, though that wasn't going to work at all long term considering how time- and energy-consuming it was. There was always the possibility of thieves too, but it wasn't like he had anything worth stealing–

Wei could finally see what looked like the main road up ahead after what had been a couple of fruitless turns and was just about to step out onto the street when a sudden weight crashed into him and sent him colliding into the nearest building. Wei panicked, thrashing out his arms in an attempt to fight off whoever was attacking him, only to go slack when he happened to look up and catch a glimpse of fierce eyes and familiar hat, allowing himself to be pinned.

" _You_ ," Meiling spat in his face. She was leaned in so close that their noses were nearly touching, and the three inches of height difference between them was feeling like not nearly enough to be of any benefit right now. "You. Complete. _Dumbass_."

"Mei," it came out much closer to a whine than Wei had intended, "let go! That hurts!"

She did let go of his wrists–only to grab him roughly by his shirt collar and press him against the wall again.

"Please tell me," she ground out, giving him a look usually reserved for stingy fightmasters and schoolyard bullies, "that you hit your head _really hard_ during our escape from Ba Sing Se, because that is the _only acceptable_ reason I can come up with for thispiss-poor decision of yours!"

"You're supposed to be asleep," Wei wheezed because Wei was an idiot like that.

"And _you're_ supposed to be unconscious. _And_ smarter than this! Looks like it's a night just _full_ of surprises!"

"You weren't really asleep." Wei summed up. _Oh look, the headache's back._

"I heard someone messing with the window," she said.

 _Great._ If Meiling had woken up then who was to say the others were still asleep? Then again Cheng usually slept like the dead and their parents had been up later than all of them so maybe there were some odds in his favor. But not if Meiling stalled him here.

"What I want to know is why," Meiling said, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Um," Wei started awkwardly, "I left a note–"

"Not that!" He thought he heard an _'idiot'_ thrown in under her breath, but he wasn't about to interrupt. Her eyes slid away from him. "I get why you want to take off. It's a big risk, all of us together. Especially after…" Wei dug his tooth into his lip again, disturbing the scab that had just started to form there. Meiling's hands tightened on his collar again, nearly choking him. "But that doesn't explain why the _fuck_ you would leave _me_ behind!"

The pressure against his throat went slack as she released him, but Wei was too busy gaping at his twin to think to make a run for it. Meiling was looking at him again, and he really wished that she wasn't because for all the anger that was there, there were tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes.

"Mei–" he started.

"How dare you!" She snapped, cutting him off. "After everything we've been through, how _dare_ you!"

"I didn't think you would want to come!" Wei snapped back, finally finding his words again. "Spirits, Mei, you _shouldn't_ want to come! Do you have any damn idea how dangerous this is? This isn't like mecha fighting! This isn't going to be some fun road trip, roaming the empire and having adventures! I could–we could get _killed_ , Mei! And I don't…" He twisted his fingers through his hair in frustration, "You, Mom, Dad, even Cheng–I'm just trying to look out for you, dammit!"

He saw the fist coming. He could have dodged it. Instead he stood there and marveled at the small explosion of pain in his left upper arm, feeling it all the way in his fingertips.

"Dumbass!" The sniffle that followed was probably indignation, he told himself, because he didn't think he could deal with full on crying right now. "And who's going to look out for _you_ , huh? You're completely hopeless on your own!"

Wei sighed, looking intently at the clouds so that he didn't have to face whatever expression his sister was giving him. It…wasn't like she was _wrong_. It was just…he had never exactly _been_ on his own before. Neither of them had. Not completely.

"If I leave, you're just going to follow me, aren't you?" He didn't even bother looking down to see her nod. Well, it wasn't like he had been looking forward to who-knew-how-many-miles of silence and brooding, anyway.

"You're not going to try to get me to go back for everyone else, are you?"

This time he did watch her as she shook her head furiously.

He sighed again, this time through his teeth.

"Fine," he said, turning towards the road again. "Maybe you can help think of a way to get us to the next town without getting mugged or murdered."

Meiling sniffed, wiping at her face. "You mean like train tickets?"

"Tickets cost money," Wei pointed out.

Her sniffles stopped abruptly. She dug around in her pocket for a moment and pulled out a familiar sack.

Wei sucked in a surprised breath. "The mecha-unit money…Mei, that was supposed to be for _everyone_ to use!"

"And everyone will get to use it!" She said, tucking the pouch back in her pocket safely. "I left half the money in the room. Next to your note." She had what might have been a wavering smile starting on her lips, but when she noticed him looking she just shoved past him and started walking towards that main road. "Mechas go for a _lot_ of money these days, you know. We'll be out of the empire in no time!"

* * *

In the end, they didn't just buy one pair of train tickets. They bought two.

After finding their way to the train station and waiting around two hours for it to open and another half hour for some other customers to show up so that they wouldn't stand out as much, Wei waited out of sight while Meiling purchased a pair of tickets on the next train heading southwest–it was an expedited trip with one of the newest and fastest trains running, the quickest way to get to the Fire Nation without outright flying there. Even better, it was due to leave in two hours.

After about ten minutes Wei went up to the ticket counter himself while Meiling browsed the postcard rack in the corner and bought another pair of tickets going straight east. The train model wasn't nearly as new or fast, but it was leaving in only half an hour. Wei left the store as soon as the tickets were paid for. Ten minutes later, Meiling came out and joined him outside of a cheap diner a block away for breakfast. By now the town was slowly starting to come alive as most of the men in residence prepared to head off to work. Wei was starting to feel anxious now; sooner or later someone back at the inn was going to wake up and notice their absence.

"So, you bought a decoy pair." Meiling said, nodding to the four tickets sitting on the table between them over her bowl. "I know we can afford it right now, but please tell me we won't be making a habit of this."

"Hopefully, we won't have to," At Meiling's raised eyebrow, he explained, "Kuvira may have a couple screws loose, but she _smart_. Deadly smart. And she knows I'm not dumb either. She's going to expect me to try and do whatever I can to avoid detection so that we can get to the boarder in one piece. And, while we might have a bit of a head start, I don't doubt that soon Kuvira's going to have every single train station, airship depot, and military checkpoint looking for us and reporting to her."

"Which is why we split up at the train station." Meiling hummed thoughtfully. "Though honestly we look so much alike that I highly doubt just splitting up is going to be enough on it's own."

"Of course not," Wei said, "Kuvira's going to know good and well that we came through here, we were together, and we bought train tickets."

"Two sets of train tickets," Meiling acknowledged. "So, obviously we were here. Obviously we were trying to avoid drawing attention to ourselves, and obviously we bought extra tickets. Either we both go east, we both go southeast, or we split up and go on different trains, but either way, we're making her guess."

"Exactly," Wei said, "Kuvira talks with General Nianzu, she'll know I like a good guessing game. And as a bonus Mom and Dad won't know where we're headed either if they try to catch up with us."

"So," Meiling said, "that only begs the question: which train _are_ we taking?"

Wei allowed himself a rare grin, swiping all four tickets from the table and getting to his feet. "Neither."

Meiling frowned, but it was that bemused sort of frown that she wore when she was secretly pleased to be facing a challenge. "Neither?"

"Nope," Wei said, walking off towards where he thought a parking lot earlier. "We're hitchhiking."

" _Two_ pairs of decoy tickets," Meiling hummed thoughtfully. "Not bad, brother of mine. Not bad at all."

* * *

Wei wasn't big on the idea of buying rides off of people, especially since they had just dropped money on tickets that they weren't even going to be using, but luckily it didn't come to that.

They walked around town for a while observing people who seemed to be loading their satomobiles for a long trip instead of just heading off to work. Despite the fact that the town had a train station, it didn't seem like many people used satomobiles in the first place, instead relying on walking or making use of local rickshaw businesses to get around. That made it pretty easy to spot a young couple carrying bags to their vehicle parked in front of one of the nicer hotels in the center of town.

Wei was just starting to think of how they definitely didn't have a chance of buying the couple off if they had enough money to stay in a nice hotel when he glanced at Meiling and the most outrageous idea struck him. Tugging on Meiling's sleeve to get her attention, he darted out from the bushes and crouched behind the couple's satomobile when they went back to the hotel lobby to get another load..

"What're you–" Meiling started, but he clapped a hand over her mouth before she could finish asking.

"How much do you know about satomobile mechanics?" he asked, and her eyes widened in understanding.

"Just enough to mess shit up," she whispered back. "You want to con these nice people, don't you?"

"What I _want_ is get us out of the empire before Kuvira finds us," Wei said, casting nervous glances at the hotel entrance. Luckily, Meiling couldn't have had _that_ much of a problem with it because she was already crawling under the front of the satomobile. She took a moment fidgeting with something.

"Don't mess it up _too_ bad, okay?" Wei hissed after her. Right as Wei was about to warn her that the couple was coming back, she rolled out from underneath the car, grabbed Wei by the sleeve, and pulled him around the other side of the vehicle and behind some tall shrubs at the hotel's entrance.

They watched with baited breath as the couple got in their vehicle, apparently set to go. The young man turned his keys in the ignition, and the satomobile purred for one nervous second before it started sputtering and belching black smoke and then went completely still.

Wei shot Meiling an impressed look. Meiling held up some important looking piece of mechanics that she had most definitely just stolen and stuck her tongue out. "One of the main bolts was really loose. They're lucky it didn't fall off on its own, really."

The young man got out of his seat and pulled up the hood of his vehicle, scratching his head and looking generally put out. After a moment he called over one of the hotel's luggage boys and exchanged some words about mechanics and costs of repairs.

Wei sucked in a deep breath. _You've buffaloyak-shitted your way into a military mecha hangar. You've got this._ He stepped out from behind the bushed, pulling Meiling behind him and angling their approach so that it looked like they had come from the building next door.

"Excuse us!" he called, waving over the young man. "Um, we couldn't help but notice you're having some difficulty with your vehicle."

The man furrowed his brow at him, "Yeah, _you_ wouldn't happen to know a mechanic that doesn't charge an arm and a leg, would you?"

Wei laughed and hoped it didn't sound too forced, "In _this_ town? 'fraid not. But, listen; our dad owns a repair place not too far from here. I could take a look at your car, and if that doesn't work our dad could probably get you a good deal!"

The man frowned at Wei thoughtfully. "You look awfully young to be working on satomobiles."

Meiling smiled disarmingly, "Oh, he's been helping Dad in the 'shop since he was old enough to hold a wrench!" Wei wanted to choke, but tried to plaster on a smile instead.

The man shrugged. "Well, I don't suppose it would hurt. Come on over here."

Wei stood at the hood of the satomobile with its owner by his side, babbling about how he had just had repairs done and what not. Wei stared under the hood at the guts of the vehicle and fiddled with some things to make it look like he was doing something while Meiling slid underneath the satomobile and started reattaching whatever it was she had stolen. He tried throwing around a couple of mechanical terms he heard Meiling use when discussing Mecha tune-ups and was relieved that the man he was talking to seemed just as clueless as him.

After a moment, Meiling rolled out from underneath the wheels and went back to innocently standing off to the side. Wei pretended to flip a switch somewhere in the tangle of tubes and metal and brushed off his hands like he had done something important.

"Well, sir, I think that might have been your problem!" Wei said.

Sure enough, when the young man leaned into the driver's side and turned the ignition, the satomobile started up without a problem.

"Oh, how wonderful!" his wife said, beaming at them. "You don't know how grateful we are!"

 _Grateful enough to give us a ride?_ Wei wondered, gears spinning in his head.

"Oh, I wish there was some way we could repay you," the young man said, rubbing his head, "Unfortunately we really must be leaving, and I don't have any spare cash on me–"

"Actually," Wei cut in, "if you're heading east, we could kind of use a ride home."

The young man trailed off, giving him a furrowed-brow look.

"We're here visiting our grandmother," Meiling added, looking downtrodden, "but unfortunately Dad's swamped back at the 'shop and needs us to go back and help."

The man considered for a moment. "Which town did you say this was?"

"Pao Lan Village," Wei said, remembering a town that had shown up not too far to the east on the map in the train station.

"Well, me and the missus were heading east anyway, so I guess it's not a problem…"

Five minutes and some heartfelt thanks later and they were on the road.

* * *

It wasn't the cleanest way of getting around, morally speaking, but for the next three days it was how they managed; the twins would locate some obvious out-of-towners or generous looking people about to head out in their satomobile and they would pull a quick con in order to get a ride out of them.

"We're not going east anymore," Meiling couldn't help but note on day three when Wei didn't bat an eye when the traveling phonograph salesman they were tagging along with told them that he was heading north.

"I think this might actually be better," Wei admitted quietly to her in the back seat of the vehicle. "I mean, I think we can both agree that getting out of the empire fast is the top priority here."

"Yeah," Meiling conceded, lowering her voice even more, "but weren't we shooting for the Fire Nation?"

"Yeah…but I was thinking. Isn't that exactly what Kuvira will be expecting? And, anyway, the Northern Water Tribe is closer. Plus I think we still openly do some trade with them, so it would be easier to get there…"

Meiling scrunched up her face in that unhappy way of hers, letting out a hard puff of aggravation. She tossed a glance at their driver, who had had the radio on for the past ten miles and was lost enough in tapping his fingers to the beat on the steering wheel and wailing along with the music anytime a song he knew the words to came on that Wei figured they weren't in much danger of being overheard.

"What happened to getting a firebending teacher as soon as possible?" Meiling asked, turning back to him. "You sounded pretty eager to get that worked out…isn't that part of what pissed you off about Kuvira?"

Wei pursed his lips. "It's still important! Trust me, I want to get a safe lid put on the unnecessary bending as soon as possible, but…we could probably find a way to get from the Northern Tribe to the Fire Nation without having nearly as much of the hassle it would be going all the way through the empire. I mean, there would probably be someone willing to help us."

Meiling snorted in a most un-lady-like fashion. "Are you kidding? The whole damn government will probably be bending over themselves to accommodate you! If anything it will take forever to get out of there with everyone fawning over the shiny new ava-"

Wei cut her off with a glance. "Not if we don't _tell_ them who I am."

Meiling stared at him. "You want to hide your identity."

Wei scowled at her. "Yeah, well, its not like being known exactly worked out in our favor _here_ for long. And, I mean, we've never met anyone from the water tribes before; do we really know if they'd be welcoming or not?"

Meiling was tugging on her braid again. "Okay, fair point. But don't the Water Tribe chiefs have a reputation for being easily offended? What happens when we skip on over to the Fire Nation and then _they_ announce that they have the avatar? Someone's going to put two and two together and get kind of pissed that Mr. Balance decided to give the Northern Tribe a pass through without saying anything."

Wei pretended to look thoughtful. It didn't work–of course not, she always knew when he was being dishonest.

"You don't plan on revealing yourself in the Fire Nation either, do you?" she deadpanned.

"Um," Wei said, deciding that it just might be safer to look out the window, "not really."

And then there were hands grabbing his shoulders, shaking him ever so slightly, and he finally relented and met his sister's irritated eyes. "What?"

"I'm just a little curious," she ground out. "Because, you know, it's a little hard to bring balance to the world and peace to the nations when you're hiding like a damn weaslerat."

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't _want_ to around playing peace keeper!" That got her to let go of him, at least, though the slack jawed look she gave him made him cringe internally. "Maybe I just want to find someone to teach me how to control firebending so that I don't destroy anything. Last time I checked, you don't have to be a celebrity to find a decent teacher."

Meiling's face got all scrunched up again. He kind of wanted to tell her that if she kept that up it would probably stick that way, but there was a dangerous tilt to her eyebrows that stopped him. "What happened to the whole 'keeping the world safe' speech you gave Mom at the palace?"

Wei felt sweat beading on his forehead, free to run down his face now that he had abandoned his makeshift bandage. "Okay…well…I never _said_ I actually intended to do any of that?"

"You _lied_ to Mom."

"I did _not_! I just…" a strangled sound made its way out of his throat in place of actual word. Frustrated, he tangled his fingers through his hair. "We needed to get out of the palace. I didn't lie I just…Dammit Mei, we're fifteen years old! Who in their right minds would want me in charge of fixing the whole damn world anyway!"

"Wei–" she started, and, yep, that was definitely 'you're being an idiot and here's why' voice.

"It doesn't even matter because _I_ don't want me in charge of it!" Wei cut her off. "I'm not cut out for the whole 'saving the day' thing. Aren't people like that supposed to be good with people, or enjoy helping people or something? At the very least they're supposed to be _nice_."

"You can be–"

"I'm not even _interested_ in doing any of that though–wondering around the world bending four elements at problems until they go away. I mean, do you know what I wanted to do with my life before this whole fiasco got started?"

"No, what?"

Wei threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know! I'm fifteen years old, and I have no fucking clue what it is I want to do with my life, Mei. But whatever it is, it's not _this_!"

"You are so–" Wei was spared from whatever name Meiling had been about to call him when the satomobile jolted to a stop, and the driver switched off the radio.

"Checkpoint," the man explained when they looked at him. "We've reached the province boarder."

The twins exchanged a horrified look. _Checkpoint?_ Okay, so they had known this was coming. Eventually. Everyone knew there were military checkpoints periodically along the roads along province boarders. Wei just hadn't figured they would come across one so soon, and they had allowed themselves to be distracted when they should have been thinking of a _plan_.

"You young'uns got your papers with you?" The salesman asked kindly, watching as two men in military uniforms slowly approached the vehicle.

"Oh no!" Meiling said loudly, turning about in her seat frantically, as if she were searching for something, "I think we left them behind!"

The driver glanced at them in the rear-view mirror, eyebrows drawn together. "Ah, well, don't panic, now! I'm sure we can talk this out. They keep a registry, so if you came through this checkpoint on your way into the province they can look you up."

"Great," Wei said, sarcasm barely light enough for the driver to miss. _Think,_ he told himself as the driver's side window was rolled down and one of the officers began shooting questions at the salesman, _there has to be something you can do._ He looked to Meiling, but she seemed to be at just as much of a loss as he did. _And there are no mecha units around this time. Great!_

"Looks like you've got quite the load there," the officer was telling their driver, motioning to the trailer hooked to the back of the vehicle where he kept all of his wares. "I'll need to see your sales license along with your identification papers. We'll also need to check the back."

The salesman muttered something discontent under his breath but hurried to dig out his paperwork from the glove box. The second officer was already walking around to inspect the back.

"How many people have you got with you?" The first officers asked, catching sight of Wei and Meiling in the back seat despite Wei internal pleas that they might escape notice.

The salesman shrugged carelessly, "Oh, just a couple of kids in need of a ride. They lost their train money while visiting some relatives and needed help getting back."

The officer eyed them for a moment, but didn't seem particularly interested. "Well, I'll need their papers too."

"We lost them!" Meiling said, and for once the anxiety on her face wasn't an act. It didn't have to be.

"Lost them?" The officer's lips turned down in a scowl. "What, both of you?"

"I think our IDs might have been in the same bag that we kept our money for the return tickets," Meiling lamented. The officer didn't look very convinced. Meiling's chin started quivering like she was about to cry, and Wei was pretty sure he looked just as painfully nervous as he felt. The officer sighed and glanced over at his partner. "Hey, can you run check the registry for me real quick?" There was a passive grunt of assent from the back. The officer turned back to Meiling and Wei. "What are your names?"

"Kuan," Wei said, quickly recalling the pair of names they had given the salesman. "Kuan Guo. And this is my sister, Yin."

The officer shouted the names to his partner, who had finished up in the back and sprinted back towards the small station built into the side of the wall to check the names in the registry.

"They're not going to find anything." Meiling muttered to him, eyes never leaving the officer going over their driver's papers.

"Of course they're not going to find anything!" Wei hissed back.

"Should we make a run for it?"

Wei scanned the area outside the car. There were a couple of soldiers standing guard by the gate, and more than likely there were more stationed inside. There were also several military vehicles parked along the wall, ready to roll at a moment's notice. If the area had been heavily forested Wei would have considered running a possibility, but this side of the wall was nothing but open, rolling hills for at least a couple of miles, which meant there was nowhere to hide.

"I don't know about you, but I probably wouldn't make it far," Wei admitted. Meiling nodded. Athleticism had never been either of their forte.

"If we move fast enough, you think you could earthbend us over the wall?"

Wei gave her a flat look. "We are literally surrounded by military level earthbenders."

"Well, yeah, but training with The Great Uniter herself for over a month has to be worth _something_ , right?"

"Not when it's ten to one!" This wasn't good, they were taking too long. They needed to just make a decision and _do_ something.

The second officer came out of the checkpoint station at a run. He was holding a single piece of paper in his hands.

"Out of the car." Wei decided, unlatching the door behind him. They slipped out of the back right as the second officer was skidding to a halt next to the satomobile, but by the time Wei was fully on his feet and ready to take his chances with making a run for it, there were four more soldiers surrounding them and leaving no gaps for escape.

 _When did they get over here? Dammit, we weren't paying enough attention!_ Wei didn't get much time to dwell on their mistakes, though.

The officers who had been checking through the salesman's paperwork was taking the piece of paper from his partner. His brow furrowed, and he stared over the satomobile at them with obvious distaste before flipping the paper so that they could see. Wei and Meiling stared at a picture of both of their faces on what was most definitely an imperial wanted poster.

"You kids," the officer said, "have some explaining to do." Before Wei could open his mouth to protest, to lie, or to stall, hands came down on his shoulders and both him and his sister were being steered towards the checkpoint station.

* * *

Anyu was a patient man. He was used to waiting.

The prison cell that they had put him in was not especially daunting. The electric lamps hanging from the walls didn't flicker too often, and the bunk where he lied was actually long enough that his feet didn't hang over the end for once. There were a couple of cameras stationed on the ceilings, recording his every move. As with most Earth Empire prisons the bars were made from wood–a deep inconvenience for metalbenders. For those with certain other skill sets…an opportunity.

There was no conventional way of telling time since there was no clock on the wall and no windows since prisoners were kept in the basement of the building. It hadn't been very long though–a full day, maybe, with how often the guard brought food. Not long enough for Anyu to give up on meditation. Not nearly long enough for the thunder of footsteps coming down the stairs. Curious. They wouldn't be coming to relocate him this soon. Not unless the Empire's intelligence network was decades ahead of where they appeared to be.

It was a parade of five people that came through the door: three soldiers leading two adolescents–a boy and a girl–in ragged street-clothes. More prisoners apparently. The two were put into the cell across from him, so he was able to get a fair look at them without moving and drawing attention to himself. They couldn't have been very old–definitely not recruiting age. They were strikingly similar looking, so probably siblings at least, quite possibly twins. Two all-but-children in a military holding cell. Curious indeed.

"Don't get comfy," One of the soldiers was telling them as their cell was being locked, "You two are gonna be on the first transport vehicle back to Ba Sing Se."

"Really?" the boy asked with a twisted smirk that had Anyu wanting to smack him just on principle. "I'm surprised Kuvira isn't tearing up the Empire to drag us back herself considering how well keeping _in_ someplace worked last time."

"Don't get cocky!" one of the other's ground out. "The Empress doesn't have time to waste on dealing with a couple of property damaging delinquents like you." With that the three filed back out of the room and left them to the otherwise empty room, though Anyu knew one would be staying in a small side room just outside the door where he could watch all their activities from a television monitor.

As the sounds of the heavy door swinging shut faded away, the girl whistled appreciatively. "Wow. So, those guys have no clue."

Neither of them seemed to have noticed his presence yet. The boy sat down heavily on the bottom bunk in their cell, slumping against the wall. "Yeah, what did those wanted posters even _say_? 'Property damage'? I feel kind of insulted."

"Well, that's not technically _wrong_. We did kind of a number on the Lower Ring," the girl reached up to her head and then her hand froze, impulsively reaching for something that obviously wasn't there. She let out an irritated sigh. "I can't believe they took my hat."

"They took our money!" the boy complained. "That's kind of more important than a stupid hat!"

"There's no reason for them to have taken it," she argued, turning listlessly in their cell to take in their small surroundings. "It's not like we could use it to help us break out of here…" her eyes stopped on his, and she froze. "Oh, hello there!"

The boy straightened up to look at him from across the room. "Eh?"

The girl pressed against the bars, obviously trying to get a better look at him. Anyu didn't bother moving to accommodate her. _Well, so much for peacefully meditating._

"You look too scary to have gotten thrown in here for not having your papers." she commented. Anyu didn't feel the need to dignify that with a response. After a few beats of silence, she asked, "I guess you heard; we're here for 'property damage.'" And wasn't that just a little interesting that apparently the Empress herself was concerned about hunting down two adolescents for something so petty.

The girl was still looking at him expectantly. "So…what are _you_ in for?"

The boy groaned. "Ah, leave him alone, Mei. If he really is here for something dangerous is that something you reallythink we want to know?"

Smart kid. After some bickering–ah yes, they _had_ to be siblings–the girl turned back to him yet again. "Well, if you're not going to say anything, then I'm just going to start guessing."

"That's dumb," her brother said.

"I'm _bored_ ," she retorted.

"It hasn't even been five _minutes_!"

 _Spirits help me,_ Anyu prayed silently. He was not a praying man. _Help me not to do something drastic._

"Let's see," the girl continued, sliding down the bars to sit cross-legged. "I've already said it probably wasn't your papers…hmm, theft? Nah, you don't look like the stealing type." Anyu didn't know what the 'stealing type' was supposed to look like, or whether or not this was supposed to flatter him. "Arson? That's fun option, I guess–kinda falls under property damage too, so then we would all have something in common. Battery? You don't look beat up, but then you look like maybe you could beat the snot out of someone without getting a scratch on you–"

"Mei," her brother whined.

"Smuggling," the girl, 'Mei' continued, not missing a beat. "Less fun than some of the others, but kind of cool–like being a pirate. Oh-oh! Maybe he killed a man! Had a vendetta or something, and he was skipping town, but the law caught up with him before he could make it out of the province."

"It was my papers," Anyu said, slicing through the incessant chatter to sweet silence. It was worth it just to see them jump at his deep, rumbling voice. For a moment he dared to hope that that would be the end of it.

"Oh, buffaloyak shit!" the boy shot back. _Of course not._ "If that's true then why didn't they just look you up in the registry?"

How impertinent. The last time Anyu could recall someone talking to him so brazenly he had been at least a foot shorter than he was now. Maybe it was because he was lying down. Reluctantly, he sat up a bit. Might as well put the kid in his place if he wanted peace and quiet.

The boy's eyes visibly widened as he leaned forward into better lighting. "Kid, does this look like a face that military men give the benefit of the doubt?"

Mei didn't seem perturbed. If anything she seemed…fascinated. _This could be troublesome._

"Are you Water Tribe?" she asked, pressing even further into the bars of their cell. "I mean, not to be rude, but you're skin's all dark and it looks like your eyes are blue and _ermfrf!_ " her brother lurched forward off of his seat and pressed a hand over her mouth before she could irritate him further.

"Don't ask rude, personal questions to the scary looking man." he hissed in her ear.

Anyu couldn't decide on if he was more irritated or baffled. _They're pretty young._ He reminded himself. _Too young to have been around before Kuvira closed the boarders, probably. And they mentioned coming from Ba Sing Se._ Which meant the odds of them seeing someone from outside of the Earth Empire before were slim to none. No wonder the rude children were surprised to see someone who looked foreign.

"It would be really helpful if he _were_ Water Tribe, though!" Mei said once she got free of her brother.

 _Don't ask,_ Anyu told himself. Despite passing curiosity, he really _didn't_ want to know. He had decided long ago that it was better not to get involved the locals and their problems. And he didn't want to encourage her.

"Even if you're not foreign, you still want to get out of here, though, right?" she continued.

Anyu didn't sigh. He was too self-disciplined to sigh. "Oh?" He really wasn't sure why he was indulging her–it could only lead to more unnecessary chatter. Maybe it was because, in a weird way, she reminded him a bit of Yana at that age. Though he was pretty sure that even Yana had known better than to make conversation with convicts. "What makes you think I'm not just awaiting my due process of law?"

The boy laughed, loud and short and bitter. "How stupid do you think we _are_?"

Anyu eyed him and his sister. _You're two criminals who have done something serious enough to earn your own wanted posters sitting here trying very_ _hard to make it look and sound like you're_ not _sizing me up and analyzing the best way to be out of here long before that government escorts arrives to drag you to the capital._ Anyu wasn't clueless. He knew when someone was trying to drag information out of him. And he knew the difference between someone who was truly disinterested and someone who was trying to look like they weren't cataloging every word he said. _I think you two are more dangerous than you look, but you're too stupid to realize what kind of a man you're trying to fool._

"Stupid enough to try and play mind-games that you're not nearly good enough at," he said out loud.

Mei's eyes widened a fraction, and she leaned back from the bars, looking at him from a different angle. "Ah, well, the only way to get better at games is to practice." She smiled at him, and it was all teeth. "You're interesting, Mr. Prison Guy. I think I like you."

Anyu really wasn't sure how to take that. Blessedly, the girl didn't seem inclined to drill him for information any more.

A number of minutes passed. Outside, the sound of raindrops slowly began, pattering on the roof and the earth lightly until it steadily increased into the thunderous tempo of a downpour. Anyu sat up fully and leaned against the wall, letting his eyes slide closed.

It wouldn't be long now.

A while later (an hour, two hours?) he heard the sound of boots on the steps again and a brief exchange of words between someone and the guard outside. Then, the door swung open and a soldier stepped inside. He was younger looking than most of the officers Anyu saw around–fresh from recruitment no doubt, clean shaven and still jerky in his movements. Obviously he had just come from outside before being sent down because he was drenched from head to toe, uniform and hair soaked through and boots squeaking with every move.

He was balancing three bowls of what looked and smelled like a thick stew of some sort, nearly tripping as he walked down the hall towards them. "Dinnertime for the convicts," he grumbled under his breath, stopping in front of their cells. "And why the blazes I'm the one stuck playing nursemaid is anyone's guess." He slid Anyu's bowl through the bars first, and Anyu turned to accept it, taking the warm bowl in his hands. He set it down on the bunk beside him as soon as the soldier turned his back to hand the other two bowls over to the siblings.

Anyu shifted his legs apart into a slightly tighter stance than he preferred. Hopefully the tightness of his cell wouldn't prove too troublesome. He glided his hands forward, the pounding of rain still singing in his ears as he reached for the subtle push and pull of water.

"You brats are just lucky you're getting treated as well as you are," the soldier was saying, "Back in the city I hear things aren't nearly as ni–" Anyu shifted backwards, pushing forwards with his hands a fraction before bringing them up and back, pulling every ounce of cold rainwater soaking the man's hair and clothes sliding into the air and towards him.

The soldier turned in surprise, making a choked noise in his throat as he saw Anyu twist the ball of water around in the air. He opened his mouth to say something–to call out for help or maybe even to scream. In one smooth motion, the water sliced forward, hardening into a shard of ice an instant before meeting skin. All the escaped the man's lips was a choked, gurgled noise that cut off sharply as his throat was sliced open.

All of this in a matter of seconds. The door at the end of the room flew open, the man in charge of monitoring them shouting in horror. This one had time to fight back, bending his metal shoulder pads towards Anyu to restrain him. Anyu dodged the projectile metal by a hairs width–damn these restricted quarters–and coiled the rainwater into a ball again, launching it at the guard.

The guard also dodged, much more easily, too, and readied himself to try again with his metal cufflinks. Before he got the chance, the water he had sidestepped turned in mid-air, pulled by Anyu's careful fingers, and swung back around to hit the man straight in the face wetly.

Rather than splash and separate into droplets again, the water stayed in a single mass, covering the guard's mouth and nose. His body stiffened with panic, and he clawed at his face as if to pull the water off of him. Anyu observed from across the room and held firm, hands turning and twisting in the air to keep the water circulating in the same place over his face. The guard began to convulse, and slid to his knees, clawing at his own throat now as his face turned red and then purple. A moment later, his body went limp, and he collapsed. Anyu slid the rainwater away from his face, drawing it back to him in a ball once again, surveying the now silent room.

He couldn't hear any commotion from upstairs. He might have a couple of moments then. The two in the other jail cell were staring at him. He didn't dwell on it.

Instead he sliced at the wooden bars with the water. It took a couple of lashes and quite a bit of concentration, but he cut all the way through the wood on the three bars holding the lock in place. In another couple of moment he cut through underneath the lock too, and the entire section of the cell door that locked it in place was a completely separate piece. After that it only took a solid kick to the doorframe and the entire thing swung open with ease.

The Earth Empire children were still staring at him. The girl had her hands pulled up to her mouth, eyes darting between him and the bleeding corpse that he was now standing over. Well, that was only to be expected. There was something queazy in the boy's eyes, too, but more than that…more than that there was something calculating there that made the hair on the back of Anyu's neck want to stand on end.

He wanted to leave them there. Well, part of him did, anyway. The two of them looked like they thought he was going to leave them there too as soon as he turned and walked towards the body at the end of the hall. That wasn't right though, he knew. There was nothing two teenaged brats could do that would make them more deserving of the empire's cruel 'justice' than him. Even if they _were_ dangerous, they couldn't be as dangerous as him.

The girl flinched when he walked back to their cell and jammed the guard's key in the lock. It was faster than all the cutting was, and the two of them looked jumpy anyways. He left the key in the lock after he opened it and walked back towards the door. He didn't bother looking back to see if they would follow. When he was nearly out the door he heard them coming anyway, whispering to each other as they tip-toed over the bodies.

The monitor displaying the now empty jail caught his eye at the base of the stairs, and he paused long enough to pop the recording device out of its slot and smash it with a heavy fist before moving on.

Anyu wasn't sure how many people were in the main part of the office. He held out his hand behind him in the universal sign to wait when he got to the top of the stairs. The siblings were a couple steps below him, and he heard the boy whisper "But I can–" before being cut off sharply by his sister. He didn't dwell on it.

He wasn't sure whether or not the door was likely to creak, so rather than peaking through the crack to survey the situation, Anyu instead slammed the door wide open and went in swinging.

There were three people in the main room: one sitting at the main desk, one picking up the phone on the opposite wall, and one just walking in from another room. Anyu targeted and had the man with the phone down before anyone had fully lain eyes on him, jugular cut and spilling lifeblood onto the nice hardwood floor. The woman that had just come in reacted fast and was bending doors off of the metal lockers on the other side of the room at him. It wasn't much of a problem, now that there was room to dodge. Anyu scattered the ball of water into droplets in the air, tossing them towards her face, then hardened them into icy shards a moment later impaling her from multiple angles before the metal cuffs she had bent at him could lock around his wrists.

The third person, another man, was hiding behind the desk, shaking. Not a bender, then, he assumed. He grabbed him by the shirt collar and pushed him up against the wall. The water swirling around his fingers was stained red now, making for an unpleasant picture. The man's eyes followed its swirling, wide as saucers.

"Wait!" Mei said, right as he was about to move. Her voice had lost its casual vibrato. "C-Can't we just leave him?"

Anyu's fist tightened around the remaining officer's throat. This was why he didn't work around children. "No."

"But–"

"He'll report what happened to Kuvira as soon as your escort squad rolls into town." Anyu said. "Is that what you want?"

"N-No!" the man gasped. "I wont! I promise!"

"Oh, you will," Anyu said. "Trust me when I say that anything I do here is much better than what the Empress's men will do to get information."

"P-Please!" the man tried on last time. Anyu loosed his hold on the man's neck a fraction. Then he got a better hold and slammed his head back against the wall with all his strength. The man went still, and when he dropped him, he fell, blood dripping from the back of his head.

Anyu didn't close his eyes. He was too professional for that.

He didn't bother turning to face the siblings before bending down to rifle through the drawers of the desk. "If you want your things, I suggest finding them quickly."

He found his own things in the second drawer. Two knives that had been found strapped underneath his clothes when they had patted him down. His papers were there too–a small error in the ID number giving them away for fakes when the officer on duty had gotten too snoopy for his own good. He took them anyway. It wasn't like he was going to find better quality ones any time soon. His backpack he found in a closet behind the desk, still mostly full with some basic supplies and his wallet.

The girl was wearing a brown, floppy hat when he turned back around. He tried to look past them as he made his way to the door.

It was still raining outside, though perhaps not as hard as before. A quick scan of the area showed four soldiers stationed at the gate, huddling under the wall as much as they could to avoid getting completely soaked. There were three others standing guard, two of them by the military vehicles and one leaning up against the building right next to where Anyu stepped out. One sharp strike to the temple and he was down before he could be a problem, though, so a total of seven left to take care of then.

One of the men standing by the satomobiles gave a shout upon seeing him. Anyu ignored him and walked up to the gate. Splashing footsteps too soft to be from booted feet told him that the siblings were following behind. Before they got too close he tossed a firm "Stay close to me," over his shoulder at them.

"Halt!" one of the soldiers, a middle-aged woman with a crooked nose, shouted. "What do you think you're doing!"

 _Same as all of us_ , Anyu reflected. He brought his arms up sharply stretching out from his sides, fingers stiff and controlling. _My job._

Over the entire yard, the rain froze. For a single moment, the soldiers stared at the unmoving droplets in stiff amazement at the droplets of water hovering in the air.

Anyu clenched his fists, and the droplets froze into a thousand blades of ice. When they fell they fell harder than before, slicing into ground and metal and flesh alike. There were screams. Most of them didn't last long.

A couple of men managed to squeeze themselves fully under the gate and were trying to bend the sopping earth into a defensive barrier, but the ground was all mud now, and it was slow to cooperate. Rain and ice skirting widely around him and the two Empire children, Anyu walked forward, pausing some of the ice shards in their descend and shooting them forward instead, stopping the remaining soldiers where they stood. The bodies slumped into the mud as they walked past with a squelching sound that almost hid the squeak that escaped the lips of the girl behind him.

It only took half a second to locate the button to open the heavy gate in front of them. On the other side there were more soldiers standing around, clearly bothered by the sounds they had head from the other side. Three tried to attack him right off the bat. The other three were smarter and tried to make a run for it instead. They didn't make it far.

The abrupt silence as the last soldier fell was louder than the pattering of the rain. Thirteen foot-soldiers outside, three in the building, two in the prison room. Anyu paused–blinked through the rain up at the gray sky. _Eighteen total then._

It was a shit day.

He turned his eyes forward and continued walking. There were trees on the near horizon, the start of a forest. After a moment, the sounds of wet footsteps followed behind him, first one, and then for some reason another. He didn't turn back to look. He swallowed the question that wanted to rise to his lips. This wouldn't last long, he told himself. Whether it was curiosity or fear of being alone that inspired these two children to follow him, it wouldn't last long, and then they would part ways.

Through mud and rain, Anyu moved forward.

Anyu was a patient man. He was used to waiting.

* * *

By the time they made it to the cover of the trees, the rain had almost stopped. Meiling might have felt grateful for that, if she had been inclined to feel grateful for anything at the moment.

It was a bit easier going without the downpour, but the undergrowth and roots seemed to make up for what the weather was lacking. The man in front of them didn't seem bothered by the change in terrain in the least, and he didn't seem inclined to slow down to accommodate their struggles, either.

That was fine with Meiling. She knew when she was being ignored. But there was no way that she was letting an opportunity this big get away without a fight, even if Wei looked like he was itching to ditch this guy just as much as he was clearly itching to ditch them. Even if she was soaked and tired and ready to collapse as it was.

Five minutes into the forest and the gap between them was steadily widening. Meiling decided continuing her silence would serve no purpose.

"So," she said, pitching her voice loud enough so that the scary looking man could hear her from a few meters ahead, "You _are_ Water Tribe, then."

It was a ridiculous statement. Meiling knew it was a ridiculous statement. Thankfully it was ridiculous enough to stop the man dead in his tracks, if only for a moment.

"You caught me," he said flatly, still not looking back. He kept walking, but Meiling had managed to scramble a few paces closer.

"New theory," she continued, hating the way her feet tried to slip out from underneath her every time she stepped on a rock. A faint rushing sound up ahead hinted that there was a river or stream somewhere close. "You _did_ get arrested for your papers, and it just so happens that you're some kind of assassin who snuck into the Earth Empire and is trying to get back out."

Wei looked like he would have told her to shut up if he weren't so mentally and physically exhausted. Which, okay, she really _didn't_ feel like talking after watching…watching everything that had happened back there. But. _But_. Even if the man in front of them scared the ever-loving shit out of her, he was obviously an enemy of the empire. And there was that whole 'the enemy of my enemy' thing to be considered. Also, she doubted any other possible aid was going to drop out of the sky anytime soon. Wei might be fine with conning their way across the empire and praying that Kuvira didn't catch up, but Meiling _wasn't_.

The rushing sound got closer, and, sure enough, up ahead a rain-swollen stream stretched into view. They fell into step along the bank quietly, and Meiling had accepted that she wasn't going to get an answer.

She had been staring so hard at the back of his head that she nearly started and fell into the water when the man glanced briefly over his shoulder at her.

"Your reasoning?" he asked in that deep, rumbling voice that sounded like it could crush a man all by itself.

She was so stunned that it took a moment for her to regather her thoughts. "Your papers had been confiscated," she explained, "so obviously you _had_ papers. You being a waterbender would have been enough to warrant arresting, but the guards looked shocked to see you bending, which is why they didn't react fast enough. So, it really _was_ a problem with the papers that got you arrested, then–probably they were fakes.

"The most obvious reason for you to _have_ fake papers would be that you're a foreigner, which is supported by the fact that you are a waterbender who is conspicuously not in a government camp. The fact that you have papers suggests that you're probably working for someone else who has money and resources to get that kind of stuff. Most likely occupation? Bounty hunter or assassin." She flinched, despite herself, and tried not to remember bleeding bodies and gaping, dead faces. "And you obviously have experience with that sort of thing." She chewed her lip, debating how much to give away, and then decided, eh, why not. "Also, back at the station, you caved and started talking right after I added murder to the list of possibilities." _Your move, Mr. Prison Guy._

She half expected him to stop again, or at least to finally look at her. Of course he didn't do either.

"You do realize," he said instead, "that that would mean you've both just followed a foreign bounty hunter into the middle of the woods."

An excellent point. The sun would be setting soon too. But then, the way Meiling saw it, if this guy wanted to kill them he could have done it back at the checkpoint.

"Frankly," Wei spoke up for the first time and nearly scared the spit out of her, "Given a choice between taking our chances with a known killer and Kuvira, I think I'd still go with the killer every damn time."

Okay, that was…a little extreme, even for Wei. "Is this because of…what you said during our dramatic parting of ways with her Eminence?"

Wei frowned and looked down at the ground like a petulant child. "Mostly? I mean, I knew she was dangerous before, but…" His mouth hardened into a hard line.

She wanted to ask what had happened, exactly, how he had reasoned that Kuvira had murdered the last avatar, but even she wasn't willing to discuss that in front of a listening stranger.

"So, anyway," Meiling continued, "We're both totally willing to follow a strange bounty hunter as long as it means getting out of the empire."

"And what exactly makes you think I'm going to go out of my way to help two delinquent children get out of the empire?" The man asked. She could hear the stiff facial expression in his voice, if that was actually possible.

"Um, because you're an adult who feels obligated to help out a couple of poor lost teenagers being persecuted by the government?"

"Strangely enough, I don't feel at all obligated."

 _Wow, what a dick._ Well, she hadn't wanted to do this, but if that was how things were going to be…

"Really?" she asked, feeling sly smile coming on. "Then how about because my brother here is a waterbender too?"

The scary Water Tribe man froze, slowly turning his head to look at her.

It would have been a really successful moment had Wei not stopped and stared at her, slack-jawed. " _What_?"

Meiling raised an eyebrow at her brother. _Play along, Dummy, it's not like we're_ lying _!_

Wei seemed to catch on, _finally_ , and shook the stupefied look off of his face. "I mean–yeah. I'm…I'm kind of a waterbender…I guess."

The man was looking back and forth between the two of them, clearly not buying it.

"Okay," he said slowly.

"Okay?" Meiling echoed, confused.

"Okay," he repeated, crossing his arms over his massive chest. "Show me."

"Show you?" Wei squeaked, looking like a rabbitmouse staring down a catowl. "N-Now? Here?"

"Why not?" the waterbender motioned to the stream gushing along happily next to them. The sarcasm in his voice was present enough to get arrested right along with the rest of them if the cops were to show up any time soon. "There's a perfect source of water right there. Even a beginner shouldn't have too much trouble."

"I, huh, haven't really been able to practice." Wei stuttered out, staring at the stream like it was going to bite him.

"It's a little hard to find time to practice an element that's been officially banned with the Dai Li breathing down your neck." Meiling added, hoping that would get the man to back off a bit.

"Well, we've got time," the man said, turning back around, "the next town isn't for a long while yet, though I recommend getting to it before the sun goes down. Wouldn't want to accidentally fall in."

"I hate you," Wei whispered in her ear as he fell back behind her, still staring intently at the water and making some vague hand gestures to coax it into motion.

"I believe in you," she whispered back, giving him a thumbs up.

To the Water Tribe man, she said, "Hey, give him a break! We grew up in Ba Sing Se, _and_ our parents are Equalists." And, there it was again with the half truths, but, well, as much as she believed in Wei's abilities to eventually bend yet another wrong element, she really didn't want this guy to get bored with them and actually leave them behind.

"So city born, Equalist bred, and obviously you've had a bad run-in with the Empress herself," the man said. "Why would that make me want to let you tag along, exactly?"

"Because you and Wei have things in common!" She said. Wei, who was stumbling along the bank waving his hands around like an idiot, paused long enough to give her an extremely dirty look. "I mean, you both hate the government, you both want out of the empire, you and Wei can both waterbend," okay, well, that last part was a work in progress, "and you'll both probably be thrown in government camps if we're caught."

"I still don't see how that makes sticking together an appealing idea."

Meiling huffed in irritation. "Wei, back me up here."

Wei was still thrusting his hands over the water, "Yeah, kind of busy."

"Look, kid," the watertribe man said. "I get what you're trying to do here. But trust me when I say you and your brother are better off not following me around. It'd be less dangerous."

Worried that she was losing ground, she threw out her arms in exasperation. "Dangerous? We _attract_ danger! We attracted _you_ didn't we?"

Wei, still intent on what he was doing, walked smack into her outstretch arm and fell in the stream. The Water Tribe man let out a noise that sounded half between an chuckle and a groan and paused to watch Wei thrash wildly in the water for a moment before he realized that it was only knee deep and sat up, sputtering.

"Oh, yeah," the man mumbled, looking like he was trying very hard not to smirk, "A real waterbender."

Wei spat out a mouthful of water and then _grinned_. "Ha! Joke's on you, asshole!" He held up his hands over the water, a ball of water about the size of a thimble floating shakily back and forth between his palms before quivering and falling back in the stream.

Meiling blinked, and had to bring her hand up to her mouth to hide her smile. He looked so _proud;_ it was just…she couldn't decide if it was funny or sad.

The Water Tribe man stared blankly at Wei, who was somehow making climbing out of a swollen stream and attempting to wring your clothes dry look self-satisfied.

"Well?" Meiling asked, resting her hands on her hips. _You can't pretend you didn't see it. We all know you saw it._

The man sighed, deep and heavily, and for some reason Meiling felt like that was a victory. "Well. I guess, _technically_ , that counts as waterbending."

"Technically!" Wei complained. The loser already had another tiny bead of water suspended between his fingers, and he looked and sounded too fascinated to be too put down. He looked like a dorky little kid who had just watched a Mover with mecha fighting in it for the first time, all awe and enthusiasm. She hadn't realized how much she had missed that look.

The watertribe man placed a meaty hand over his face, rubbing at the worry lines on his forehead before letting it slide away.

"I know some people, in a town a couple of miles from here," he said finally. "They might be able to help get you north."

Well. It wasn't what she had been aiming for, but it was something. "Thank you, sir." Meiling said with as much politeness as she could muster. She even meant it. Mostly.

The man made a noncommittal noise. "Don't call me, sir," he said, and when he started walking away his pace was a little slower. "The name's Anyu."

They walked in silence again after that. This time, it didn't feel quite so heavy.

* * *

They ended up camping out overnight in the damp forest, which was about as miserable as could be expected without any sleeping bags or suitable shelter. Wei figured they could have at least had a fire despite everything being wet if only Meiling hadn't blabbed to the Water Tribe guy that he was a waterbender. Discomfort be damned–there was no way he was letting on to a complete stranger that he was the avatar. Especially not a stranger who he had watched massacre almost twenty people.

 _Why is everyone so damn afraid of firebenders? Waterbending is_ terrifying _!_ He'd be lying, though, if he said he wasn't filing away some of those moves he had seen for later exploration. The images were traumatically burned into his mind anyway–might as well put them to use.

The three of them made it to the town Anyu had mentioned in only a couple of hours the next day. By midmorning they were stumbling into town looking like…well, three people who had just broken out of prison and spent the night in the woods. Luckily Anyu claimed that this place was located pretty far from the main road system, so it was less likely to be swamped by police searching for whoever massacred a government checkpoint. That was assuming, of course, that that particular bloody scene had already been discovered and the word had been put out to local law enforcement.

"Right," Anyu said, the first word he had actually spoken to them aside from a gruff "get up" earlier that morning. "My contact should be open for business today, unless he's moved shop or something big has come up. I'll see what he can do about getting you some passable papers and a ride north." He eyed the two of them like one might eye gum stuck to their shoe. "This shouldn't take long, so just…stay here. And, for spirits' sakes, try not to draw attention to yourselves."

"Oh, yeah," Wei muttered the second the guy was out of sight, leaving them standing in the middle of town between a noodle shop and a used satomobile dealership. "No problem. We'll just stand here inconspicuously. It's not like we look like a couple of damn hobos who crawled out of the wild."

Even Meiling couldn't seem to muster much optimism to counter him. "The rain kind of washed our clothes, at least." Was all she managed, shoulders drooping.

"Huh," Wei said, "Maybe we're so sloppy that no one will recognize us from the wanted posters." He doubted it. The bad thing about being twins was that they were kind of twice as likely to get recognized. "This is a bad idea. We got past the checkpoint, we should just pull another con and get moving again." Though it would probably be a good idea to buy some new clothes first, even if it did drain their funds more.

"Yeah, but if we wait a couple minutes we'll have fake papers and stand a better chance of not getting stopped at the checkpoints." Meiling pointed out.

"Yeah, _if_ this guy comes through for us," Wei said, eyeing the building on the other side of the road that Anyu had entered suspiciously. "If we're careful I bet I could earthbend us over the boarder walls–we'd just need to find a point where there aren't many people patrolling."

Meiling was giving him a _look_. "Not to say I don't have confidence in your earthbending, but…wow, do you really hate being around Anyu that much?"

"No." Okay, yes, he really, really, _really_ did. Meiling's face told him that she didn't believe him either. "He murdered an entire checkpoint full of people, Mei! And, yeah, that worked out for us, but it's not like he did it for _our_ sakes. And, sure, I'd still take help from the murderer over Kuvira, but we're back in a town, now, with actual other people and resources around–we can make it from here on our own. Besides, It's obvious he doesn't like us tagging along. What happens when he decides we're less of a charity case and more of an inconvenience, huh? So, no, I don't like being around him. I don't trust him, and neither should you!"

A frown set itself firmly on Meiling's lips, which could only mean trouble. "I _don't_ trust him," she huffed. "But, Wei, there are an awful lot of checkpoints between here and the end of the empire–even if we make for the north. We've made it okay this far, but we can't _do_ this forever. Next time we get caught there probably isn't going to be a burly waterbender there to break us out."

Wei felt his tooth digging into his lip again. That cut was never going to fully heal at this rate. "Fine," he bit out, because she did have sort of a point. "We'll take the papers then. But we're not tagging along any more after this, Mei." He stabbed a thumb at the building across the street for emphasis. "At this rate I'd rather walk to the Northern Tribe than hitch a ride with Mister Murder Fists over there."

"You're being very rude about the person who's getting us fake documents." Meiling pointed out, but before he could argue she held up a hand to shush him. "I'm going to go buy us some breakfast, now. Try not to cause any problems before I come back." And just like that she disappeared into the shop they were leaning against before he could offer his opinion one way or another.

"Problems," he muttered under his breath to no one in particular. "Come on, I can take care of myself for five damn minutes."

The universe, it seemed, drew pleasure from proving Wei Yuan wrong whenever possible.

It was pure luck that he caught sight of the small clump of people gathered on the corner on the far end of the street. He wouldn't have noticed them, except the thin, reedy man standing in the center of the group was waving his hands around wildly, fingers jerking in Wei's direction a couple of times and catching his attention. The two men he was talking to were leaned in close, talking quietly together, and they wore matching uniforms that weren't quite military official but definitely spelled out authority figure. _Local police, probably._ Fabulous. He couldn't tell if they were looking at him exactly. He really hoped his luck wasn't that bad.

Pretending to look disinterestedly across the street, Wei walked a couple of paces to his right, watching the group out of the corner of his eye. The cops' heads turned slightly, following him. Just to be sure, he walked back to the left again, trying to make it look like he was pacing. Their gazes followed him. _Damn it._

Okay, so he was being watched. Maybe it wasn't that bad. Maybe the civilian guy was just complaining because he obviously looked homeless. Maybe he owned the satomobile dealership and was irritated that they were loitering. Nonchalantly, Wei moved towards the door of the noodle shop. At least if he went inside he could warn Meiling and hopefully no one would cause a scene with other people around.

"You there!" a voice called from the end of the street. Wei glanced over his shoulder, and, yep, the police were walking towards him, the other guy lingering at the street corner, wringing his hands. Wei ducked his head, pretending not to have heard them.

"You, kid!" the cop called again, unmistakable. "Stop right there!"

His hand was on the door handle when he felt the earth quiver beneath his feet in an all-too-familiar way. He didn't think–he jumped straight up in the air, barely avoiding the stone that came up to swallow where his feet had been a moment before, touching down safely just to the left.

The two police officers in front of him stared at him like he had just sprouted four heads. "Um," Wei said, mind unhelpfully blank as he tried to avoid pressing his back into the wall of the building behind him. "What seems to be the problem, officers?"

The shorter of the two stepped forward boldly. "Why didn't you stop when we called you?"

"Oh," Wei said, rubbing the back of his head, "you were talking to _me_?"

"Of course we were talking to you! You see any other stupid kids loitering around local businesses this time of day?"

"Well, what can I do for you?" Wei asked, heart rate slowly climbing towards panic.

The other officer, taller and with a bushy beard that could make a buffaloyak jealous, clapped a hand on his shoulder, which was nearly enough to make Wei's suddenly weak legs give out beneath him. "We're going to need you to come with us and answer a few questions," he said in a deep, rumbling voice.

"Why?" Wei was no law buff, but he was pretty sure there was supposed to be some sort of legal process here. "Am I under arrest?"

Shorty smiled thinly. It was not at all reassuring. "Not unless you've done something to be arrested _for_."

 _They totally know._ Wei decided. Well, maybe they didn't _know_ , know–if they knew about the checkpoint incident they wouldn't be bothering with niceties, but they were looking him over way too keenly to not have recognized him from the wanted posters.

Wei sized up the two men. They didn't look half as nasty as most of the metalheads that he's seen in the mecha fighting arenas, but they were police, which meant they weren't pushovers bending-wise. Maybe if he could surprise them somehow he would have a chance to get away, but he couldn't leave Meiling behind, and he currently had his back up against a wall, literally.

Before he could think of any sort of smart solutions the door to the shop swung open and Meiling stepped out onto the street, two steaming bowls in her hands.

The officer with the beard, who was closest to the door, was the only one to give her a glance, both of them too focused on their intended target to pay much mind. In the fraction of a moment it took for the man to look away, Meiling's eyes darted from Wei to the arm on his shoulder to the two officers intent on arresting him, and before Wei could force a warning past his lips there was a bowlful of hot broth in the tall officer's face and the hand on his shoulder was gone.

Beardy bent over in pain, hands covering his scalded face and eyes. Shorty took his eyes off of Wei finally, and Wei braced himself against the wall and kicked the man right in the kneecap with a sickening crunch. Shorty went down like a felled tree, howling in pain. Wei tried not to think about it too hard as he launched himself over the man's body and out into the street, snatching Meiling's hand to drag her with him.

They only made it a couple of steps before the road beneath their feet reared up like a startled ostritchhorse and nearly sent them tumbling on their asses because apparently Beardy was up again and out for blood. Reacting more than thinking, Wei yanked Meiling closer to him, rooted his stance, and dug his feet sharply into the ground, forcing the terrain beneath and around their feet to still and solidify in a circular patch of stability about three yards across.

 _My range is getting better_ , he reflected distantly. The last time Kuvira had pulled something like this on him he had only been able to manage a two yard diameter at best.

Wei didn't get much time to consider it because now there were chunks of rock lifting up from the ground and flying at them as the bearded officer seemed pretty put off that Wei was putting up a fight. Wei ignored the primal part of his mind screaming at him to _move_ so that he could dodge and weave instead of standing there and actively blocking the blows, bracing himself against the bent weight coming at them and bringing up barriers only to sink them back into the earth a moment later so as not to trap them. That's what he would have done in earthbending practice for the most part. And that had _worked_ in earthbending practice but back then he hadn't had a nonbending sister who was much less practiced at dodging thrown into the mix. It was better to stay put and focus on keeping their little safe island of ground stable so that it didn't rise up and trap their feet.

Besides, Wei considered, punching clean through a rock that he couldn't freeze in the air fast enough. This meathead's punches weren't even close to being scary as Kuvira's.

"Is he actually trying to kill us?" Meiling shrieked when another chunk of earth flew past their heads. The shouting pedestrians running for covered locations to get out of the line of fire seemed to concur.

 _No, he's aiming for the hands, mostly._ The rock shapes coming at them weren't the neat gloves that the Dai Li used to apprehend, and his aim was a lot more shaky, but Wei could see that that was probably what had inspired the motions. _He's probably not a metalbender, either, if he's trying to hand cuff me with rocks._

He was so sidetracked making sure that the bastard didn't take out his head with his rotten aim that he missed the other officer rising to prop himself up on his good knee. He noticed him out of the corner of his eye just in time to see a flash of light on metal as the asshole's shoulder plate flew through the air and snapped onto Wei's outstretched wrists. The momentum sent him toppling sideways, and of course since his hands were tied, he couldn't catch himself and would have smacked face-first into the ground if Meiling hadn't barely caught him.

"You son of a buzzardwasp!" Beardy snarled, yanking him up by his shirt collar. Wei tried to tell Meiling to make a run for it, but before the words were even on his lips there was a _shirk_ of metal flying through the air and suddenly her feet were knocked out from under her as the metal from Shorty's other shoulder pad cuffed her by the ankles. And, okay, for someone who was still mostly slumped on the ground, Shorty was looking awfully damn smug.

"I don't care who the brat is," Beardy said, eyes red and scalded and spit flying angrily off of his lips, "central command said they only wanted him alive. They didn't say nothing about him not being roughed up."

That's didn't sound good. Behind him, Meiling had managed to worm her way back to her feet and had a look on her face set to kill, a scrape on her chin from the fall she'd taken. Wei was getting just a little pissed.

"Call in to the station," Beardy shouted over to his partner, visibly more relaxed too with both of them in cuffs.

 _Dumbass._ Wei shifted his weight, leaning back and bracing himself.

Fun fact that most law-abiding officials never considered: mecha piloting required you to bend with all of your limbs. Legs included.

In the next moment, two things happened. One, Anyu tore open the door of his associate's office, grimly determined to find out what the commotion on the street had been.

Two, Wei snapped up his foot and kicked the bearded officer squarely in the chest, using the forward motion of his foot to bend the cuffs on his hands free. The loose and still malleable metal continued forward in the air until it collided with the police officer's already scalded face, and Wei used his now free hands to wrap the metal around his head in a blindfold.

The man wheezed from the impact, staggering backwards blindly and flailing out his hands to find something to balance on. Before he could manage, Wei snatched one of his wrists out of the air with one hand, crouched, and contorted the metal band off of Meiling's ankles, guiding it forward to wrap around the earthbender's other wrist and bringing it snapping together around the one he was holding, binding him like Wei had been a moment ago.

"The other one!" Meiling shouted. Wei figured she meant for him to do something about him too before he could be a problem again, but when Wei turned his attention to the other cop he was laid out on his stomach, one of his arms pulled back straight behind him by strong hands and a sturdy foot pressed to his back, holding him down.

Anyu was not staring at the officer of the law that he was almost crushing, and he wasn't looking at the other officer cuffed on the ground either. He was watching Wei, eyes narrowed in an unreadable expression.

"What's his problem?" Wei muttered, feeling uncomfortably like an antelopefox caught in headlights.

"I…" Meiling, sounding uncharacteristically nervous, stopped, cleared her throat and tried again. "You metalbent at that guy just now."

 _Well, yeah, but that shouldn't be that strange_. Anyu certainly shouldn't have any objection to violence, unless he was the biggest damn hypocrite in the world. And, sure, Wei was a bit young for a metalbender, but they _were_ in the Earth Empire so it shouldn't be _that_ big of a surprise.

"You're supposed to be a waterbender, Dumbass," Meiling hissed under her breath when he didn't respond.

Wei felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, and that sharp blue gaze felt like shards of ice stabbing him in the chest. "Oh." _Oh_ fuck.

He took a step backwards, instinctually, like a nervous animal. Then he turned and took off running back across the street. He made it about eight good paces before there was a hand on the back of his shirt, and okay, he would _really_ appreciate it if people would stop grabbing him by the collar like he was someone's lost poodlemonkey.

Anyu's hands pushed him the rest of the way across the street, releasing him with a heavy shove that nearly had him slamming into the wall of the noodle shop. He had barely regained his balance when the same pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and forced him sharply against the wall.

The Water Tribe man had a good foot on him, maybe even more. Pinned underneath his seething gaze, Wei felt even shorter, and this close he got a detailed view of the angry scar leading from the edge of the man's hairline above his right eyebrow trailing over the bridge of his nose and ending just above his top lip.

"You're an earthbender." He stated. If Wei hadn't spent the last month reading people in the palace he might have called his voice calm. He could see Meiling hovering a few feet behind Anyu, wringing her hands anxiously but clearly at a loss for what to do.

"N–" Wei started. The fingers on his shoulder tightened. "Y-Yes."

"And a waterbender." There was definitely a growl underneath his words this time.

"Yes." The fingers on his shoulders loosened fractionally. There was a glint in Anyu's eyes that Wei was starting to associate with murder.

"How old are you?" Anyu demanded, and from the twist of his lips it looked like he literally had to force the words out of his mouth.

"Do you really want to know that?" Wei couldn't help but ask because, if their roles were reversed, he knew he sure as summer would rather not.

"How old?" He repeated, another hint of a growl that sent the beads of sweat on Wei's forehead dripping.

"Fifteen," he breathed, barely audible even to his own ears. The hands holding him went slack.

Anyu wasn't looking at him. He was staring at the brick wall above his head, tightlipped and brows evened out into an expression somewhere between contemplation and loathing. Wei wondered idly if he had actually held any hope that he was going to get a different answer.

Anyu's body tensing was Wei's only warning before one of his big, meaty fists shot out and slammed into the wall about a foot to his left.

"Son of a _buzzardwasp_ ," he shouted.

When he pealed back his hand there was a cracked dent in the brick and Wei was distinctly glad that his bladder was empty.

Anyu straightened, and, ignoring both the dent in the wall and Wei completely, took off walking down the street, taking long, halting strides. Meiling and Wei shared a wide-eyed glance. Then, despite Wei shaking his head furiously, Meiling steeled herself and slowly crept after him, leaving Wei with little choice but to reluctantly follow behind.

Pedestrians had started peeking out from shop fronts and street corners, back to being curious rather than scared now that the commotion had died down. They really needed to be clearing out of here soon. Wei wasn't sure how many police officers there would be for a small, out of the way town like this, but it was still probably more than he wanted to deal with.

Anyu stormed into the parking lot of the used satomobile dealership and up to a satomobile that sat parked but running right near the exit. Inside sat two people, a salesman and a prospective buyer, presumably out for a test drive. Anyu tapped on the driver's side glass. The two men stared at him open-mouthed with fear, but silent. The Water Tribe man brought his fingers to his temples, as if warding off a headache, and sighed heavily through his nose.

"Get out of the vehicle," he said, again with the near-calm that made Wei's stomach churn. The salesman slammed open the passenger-side door and both of them piled out of the satomobile, scrambling off towards the dealership as fast as their legs could carry them.

Anyu got into the still running vehicle, slamming the door shut behind him. He sat in the driver's seat, hands resting on the wheel.

"Is he going to leave us here?" Meiling wondered. Wei didn't bother with an answer. He kind of hoped he would.

Anyu didn't move though. He just sat there, hands on the wheel, leaning back in his seat and staring through the windshield into the far, far distance at something Wei couldn't see. A full minute passed. Two. Still no move was made to drive away. People were starting to wander closer, a crowd gathering around the two downed police officers. Wei was wondering if they should start walking–make for the edge of town and head for the forest again.

"Um," Meiling–for some _stupid_ reason–called out to the occupied satomobile, "Is there anything–"

Anyu held up a silencing hand in her direction without even turning to look at her, continuing to stare at nothing. They stood watching him a little longer, their own pocket of uncomfortable quiet in the steadily building uproar of a town that was probably about to turn nasty really soon.

Wei was about to grab his twin and insist that they get moving before someone noticed them standing there when the back door to the satomobile on the drivers-side was thrown open. Both of them were so stunned for a moment that neither of them moved. When neither of them were quick on the uptake, Anyu rolled down the window.

"Get in the damn vehicle." His voice was flat, face devoid of expression.

All thoughts of making a run for it fled Wei's mind. Wordlessly they both crawled into the back of the satomobile. The moment the door closed behind them and they had buckled in, Anyu adjusted the stick to drive and they pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road. He didn't seem overly concerned at the flood of people in the street a building over–just turned them in the other direction and gunned it.

"Um," Wei said, finally finding his voice somewhere down near his toes, "Where are we going?"

Anyu drew in a heavy breath through his nose, held it, and released it in what could pass for a snarl. " _You're_ the avatar."

Wei flinched at the mix of irritation and exasperation thrown into the word. "Well, yeah, that's been established–"

"The Empress knows. Doesn't she?" he continued, clearly not caring for lengthy responses. "That's why you're on the run."

"Yeah," Wei admitted, wondering why the guy hadn't pulled over and thrown them out by now if he was so worried about that. It's probably what he would have done, in his place.

Another hiss of breath, and from between the seats Wei could see his hands tightening on the steering wheel until his knuckles were almost white.

"You need to get to the Fire Nation," Anyu said through clenched teeth. "And–spirits _help us all_ –it look's like _I'm_ going to have to be the one to take you there."

* * *

 **Alright, so, good-news/bad-news time:**

 **The good news: After the tension of the past two chapters, the next two chapters are going to be a two-parter side adventure with spirit shenanigans that will hopefully serve as a nice breather before the main plot drop-kicks everyone again. I haven't quite decided yet if I will be posting both chapters together or splitting them up like usual due to current writing time constraints, which leads us to...**

 **The bad news: So, I'm currently in preparations for moving abroad at the end of the month, which is sort of why this chapter took a bit longer to come out. Between actually moving in a couple of days, getting everything set up in the new place, and starting up classes again after a five month break, I have no idea how much free time I'm going to have in October. In order to reduce stress, I've made the decision to skip October's update and use whatever free time I have to catch up on writing. Sorry for the inconvenience–hope you all have a lovely October!**


	5. Spirit Tales

***Walks in over a month and a half late with Starbucks***

 **I totally have explanations for this update being so late. In fact, if you'd like, I could write you a ten-page essay about the things I've been doing instead of updating. I'm going to leave out the excruciating details though and simply go on the record saying: if you're thinking about balancing moving halfway across the world, cramming your schedule with as many intensive language courses as you can fit, writing for an original character tournament, maintaining a social life, learning how to do adult things in setting where you're functionally illiterate, AND keeping track of a fanfic that is quickly turning into a monster before your eyes...well, don't. Don't do it. Love yourself guys. Don't be like me.**

 **That being said, this chapter was fun to write when it wasn't stressful, and it's my very first chapter posted from Japan! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Five: Spirit Tales

* * *

 _Two more days,_ Anyu told himself, _just two more days._

It was more optimistic of an estimate than he usually indulged in. It would take at least another full day of solid driving with minimal refuel stops and no unforeseen setbacks and they would _probably_ reach the port. From there it would be at least another day in the empire–depending on how long it took securing a ride to smuggle them into the Fire Nation and how much caution he put into finding said ride, it might take even longer. Then there would be the trouble of actually finding someone willing to meet with him and listen once they _arrived_ in the Fire Nation.

A bump in the road sent a shoulder slamming into the back of his seat, jarring him.

 _Two days,_ Anyu vowed, eyes on the road. _Then I can be done with this._

"Not to complain," Meiling complained from the back seat, "but how long until we stop again?"

Anyu considered ignoring her, as had been his policy for the first thirty miles they had driven a day and half ago. By now he wasn't stupid enough to think it would actually work.

"We just stopped to refuel." He said. So far short responses seemed to be the best way to discourage conversation, but she was getting bolder.

"That was, like, almost three hours ago!"

 _That long, really?_ Anyu eyed the needle on the fuel gage, disappointingly close to empty for his liking. They would have to stop again soon. He set his eyes back to the road. They could probably get another good hour down the road before then.

"Come _on_ , I have to pee!" she whined.

Anyu pursed his lips, considering, then jerked the satomobile over to the side of the road, earning a squeal of surprise from both adolescents. "You have two minutes."

Meiling peeked out the window at the bushes on the side of the road skeptically, looking like she might protest, but then she shoved the back door open and swung out of the vehicle dejectedly.

"Please tell me there's a town nearby," the Avatar–Wei's voice came from directly behind him, sounding considerably more bored than his sister's. The kid had been a bit less obnoxious overall since they purchased some new clothes in the town before the last checkpoint.

"According to the map there's a place we can refuel maybe half an hour from here," Anyu admitted.

"I suppose there's no chance of us stopping for the night and actually sleeping in a bed."

Anyu felt a headache coming on. "Not unless you're that eager to get into another fight with the police." He didn't have to look back to see the eye-roll directed his way. He could hear the implied sass just fine. _If anyone should be pissed it's me. I'm the one driving your sorry asses around and only sleeping a few hours a night._ The things he did for the good of the world. Whatever cosmic being had decided to have _him_ be the one to run into the avatar in the middle of enemy territory, he wanted to have _words_ with them. He was a paid assassin–philanthropy was pretty far from his pay grade.

A moment later Meiling came back, slamming the door shut behind her, and they were on their way again.

Twentynine minutes and counting and Anyu was just starting to look for the turn off for the tiny village the map said should be around here when Meiling's head appeared over his shoulder, and he nearly swerved onto the other side of the road.

"Look, there's a place up there!" she _all but shouted_ in his ear.

Sure enough off to the right there was a dusty two lane road and a rickety sign reading: Lao An, Population: 510. Pushing down his reluctance, Anyu turned them down the road, regretting every jolt on the uneven pavement and the way that encroaching branches and leaves swatted the sides of the satomobile. _You would think these roads would be better kept, even if this place_ is _in the middle of nowhere._

He realized why when they pulled out of the trees and found themselves parked on the edge of what could only be described as a wasteland. For miles and miles everywhere what logic said was supposed to be a quiet mining village was only rubble and ruin, buildings crumbling and missing roofs and walls, craters and seared holes haphazardly interrupting stores and houses. Further along the tree line showed damage to the forest too where trees had been toppled and burned.

In the back seat, one of the kids made a strange, half choked noise. At first Anyu figured it was Meiling, but a glance in the rearview mirror showed her to be observing in relative calm. Her brother was the one curled up in his seat looking like he was going to be sick all over the upholstery.

"What could have caused this?" Meiling breathed against the window, so quiet Anyu barely heard her.

 _Not a what,_ Anyu thought, putting the vehicle in reverse before either of them could get too good a look. _Definitely a who._

He tried not to think too hard about whether or not he had been through here on his way into the inner parts of the Empire. It was been a couple of months since he last passed this way. Even if he did happen to recall, it wouldn't do any good either way.

Back on the main road his thoughts turned back to things he could do something about. _If I could cut back on time spent sleeping, we might make it in half a day._ Not a pleasant thought, but he had gone longer without sleep before, when need be. _Yana probably won't be in the city, this time of year, but she might be able to put me in contact with someone. This is Avatar business, the White Lotus should jump all over it. Just bring the kids to the capital, and you're as good as a free man._

They were another fifteen minutes down the road when they started to hear an alarming grinding sound from under the hood. Anyu let up on the accelerator a bit. They made it another few yards before the vehicle started jolting and ground to a stop.

Anyu punched the accelerator a couple of times with nothing but a complaining clattering noise in response.

 _Oh, spirits, no!_ He pleaded, jumping out of the driver's seat and walking around to assess the damage. When he lifted the hood, smoke spewed from the machinery underneath.

"Get out," he told the faces staring at him from inside the satomobile with maybe just a little too much venom.

 _Well, Anyu,_ he told himself, _that's what you get for being an optimist._

"Looks like we're walking."

* * *

If there was anything Nianzu hated more than dealing with the empress, it was dealing with civilians.

"Tell me again, when and where exactly was this boy you saw?" he said, words rolling past his lips for what was undoubtedly the tenth time that afternoon.

"It was yesterday, around breakfast," the man, broad shouldered, stiff faced, and obviously wanting to get back to the bag of potatoes he'd been unloading from his truck. "Came into town with a couple other people–we don't get many out-of-towners through here these days. Didn't stay long, just picked up some groceries over at Yuu's place."

"And you're sure he looked like this?" Nianzu shook the poster featuring the Yuan family's pictures, pointing to Wei's face.

The man didn't bother giving it much of a glance-over. He shrugged. "Could be. The kid looks familiar, but I wasn't exactly committing faces to memory, mind you. I don't recognize any of the others there, though my wife says there were a couple of other people that came through too."

"I see," Nianzu said, sensing that he had lost the man's interest for good. That was the problem with these country bumpkins–no respect for a man in uniform. "Thank you for your time. If you remember anything be sure to let us know."

The man let out a noncommittal grunt and continued unloading his truck.

 _Well, that was about as unhelpful as the past nine interviews_ , Nianzu mused as he walked back down the street towards his own vehicle.

It was safe to say that the search for the avatar was not going well. It had been almost a week since the empress had merrily kicked him out of the palace with a military issue satomobile, four military officers under his command, a communicator hooked up to the military's main communication's line for keeping posted and reporting in, and a death threat. So far the vehicle had turned out to be the most useful by far.

Nianzu didn't have much patience for young officers. Not that he didn't have the commanding experience–the campaign to unite the Earth Empire had given him plenty and more than he would ever care for. But now he was a general, and being handed a rag-tag assortment of young men who weren't really old enough to remember the true horrors of the reign of the last Earth Queen felt a lot more like babysitting than it did leading. Shamefully enough, he had been almost relieved when the two sergeants with them had turned up missing three days ago in one of the less friendly towns they had passed through. Small towns were a lot more hostile than Nianzu remembered from his campaigns, though granted that had been some fifteen years ago.

The two officers left were lazing against the side of their truck, obviously having turned in the towel with their own investigations long before he had. The closest to him leaned against the hood, flipping through a magazine that Nianzu didn't want to know the contents of and whistling in a way most unbefitting of men in dire straights such as they. He was one of those haughty types, top of his class and well aware of the fact. He had been one of the first of the newest round of mecha pilots to get his license and the first to _lose_ said license. It was one thing to get your mecha unit hijacked–things happened, especially campaigning in some of these outer provinces closer to the boarder. Getting your mecha unit hijacked by a _fifteen-year-old_ on the other hand was one way to find yourself on the military's shit list. The guy was just lucky that the empress had taken pity and given him the opportunity to earn his license back by helping to apprehend the very delinquent who had stolen it.

"Bohai," Nianzu snapped as he approached, and the young pilot straightened sharply, nearly dropping the volume in his hands.

"Sir!" he practically yelped.

Nianzu mentally sighed. "Any news to report?"

"No, sir. Nothing beyond what we had already found out."

 _Fantastic._ Nianzu turned to his only remaining underling who was actually seated in the back of their truck, whittling on a piece of wood with his military issued pocket knife.

Major Tengfei was a good enough officer–a bit on the thin side for an earthbender, but he made up for a lack of physical presence with a sharp mind and good observation skills, which spirits knew they could use right now. He was somewhere in his later twenties or early thirties but didn't look it quite yet, and he always had the same carefully blank expression on his face that was starting to give Nianzu the creeps. Nianzu had been admittedly confused when he found out that, unlike everyone else here, Tengfei had _volunteered_ for the empress's little hunting squad. After a bit of digging he had found out that the man had a pair of elderly grandparents and some close cousins living in the Lower Ring…right along the path of where the avatar had taken his mecha joyride out of the city. Nianzu's confusion ended there, as did any casual ease he might have felt around the young officer–you always had to watch the intense types, never knew what they might do. As such, he didn't indulge conversation with the man very much if he could help it, which seemed to suit them both just fine.

"And you, Major?" he asked, more for procedure's sake than anything else at this point.

Tengfei shook his head, not even looking up from his whittling. "The locals didn't seem very inclined to speak with me."

Nianzu scratched had his beard thoughtfully. "I faced similar reception. It seems this province in general has been reluctant to cooperate."

"Yeah," Bohai said, looking too much like a kicked puppy for Nianzu's professional taste. "Some of the locals wouldn't even talk to me, and the old lady that runs the clinic over there said that they haven't had anyone come through here for six weeks before we showed up."

"Well, that's obviously a lie." Nianzu furrowed his brow distastefully at the thought. Back in his campaigning days no one would have dared lie to anyone wearing a uniform.

"Some of the people I talked to had similar stories," Tengfei admitted. "Others claimed that there were some people in town recently, but they all varied on how long it had been and what they looked like."

"Maybe they were confused?" Bohai suggested. "Everyone seems really busy around here, so maybe none of them can remember it quite right if they weren't paying attention."

"A town is visited by strangers for the first time in weeks and no one at all takes notice," Nianzu shook his head. "If this were big place like Omashu then I might believe it if no one remembered properly. But a small place like this? Gentlemen, I believe that we're being purposefully put off and mislead."

Bohai, for his part, looked absolutely affronted. "Why would they do that, though? I mean, we're working for the good of the empire!"

Tengfei paused for a moment mid whittle and shot the pilot an incredulous look. "Are you actually an idiot?"

 _Patience_ , Nianzu reminded himself. "I suppose you're one of those who's lived in Ba Sing Se your whole life." A nod. "Well, out here in the rest of the empire there aren't people like the Dai Li or large, well equipped police forces to keep the peace. These people aren't used to seeing us military types around unless there's a problem. People get nervous." Especially these older types who remembered all too much from the old days when the empire was fractured and they'd had to do to put it back together from the ground up.

"So they lie." Bohai said sourly.

"People are naturally inclined towards lying," Nianzu deadpanned. "Now if only we had a way of telling which of these _upstanding_ citizens are telling us falsehoods and who actually knows what they're talking about."

Bohai laughed abruptly, slapping the hood of the truck. Nianzu and Tengfei stared at him.

"Something you'd care to share with us, pilot?" Nianzu asked, feeling a headache coming on. Or maybe it was just returning since he wasn't sure the one the empress had given him had ever fully gone away.

"Nah, it's just, that reminded me," he quirked a smile much too genuinely amused for a military man, and Nianzu resisted the urge to slap it off of his face. "While I was asking around at the grocer's if they had heard anything unusual from the neighboring towns this little kid complained that there was a witch living in the next village over."

"A witch," Nianzu repeated, truly at a loss for where his subordinate was going with this.

"Yeah, a witch," Bohai affirmed. "A witch who can read minds and knows if you're being dishonest. I thought the kid was just telling tales, but then one of the women in the shop said that she had heard the rumor too. Country folk and their wild imaginations!" Bohai chuckled again. "Wouldn't that be helpful, though? Having someone along who could read minds?"

"There's no such thing as witches," Nianzu felt it uncomfortably necessary to tell him. Then he thought over the information and frowned. _There's no such thing as mind reading._ If it was simply a matter of telling whether or not someone was being honest though…he had heard stories, some of them from the empress herself, about certain earthbenders who had the ability. Toph Beifong herself had been rumored to be one such person. It was possible…

"Which village was this?" he asked, and he knew almost immediately that he was going to regret this.

* * *

It was day six of being on the run, and Wei was sick to death of charming countryside towns. Especially when said town was about two miles off of the main road and, coincidentally, spitting distance from a military depot.

It had taken them a good hour of walking before they had found this place, and thank _goodness_ the place had a decent service garage and someone willing to drive down the road and tow their satomobile. Wei knew he should probably be more invested in the conversation between Anyu and the mechanic, but right now all he could focus on were the wooden panels beneath his feet and trying really hard not to throw up.

 _Calm, calm,_ it had been his mantra for the last hour and a half.

"You look like complete shit," Meiling felt the need to inform him. He wanted to tell her to shut up, that she wasn't helping, but he was afraid that if he opened his mouth to talk he might actually puke all over the nice mechanic's floors, and then Anyu would probably make them go outside, and while the wooden bench in the shop wasn't the greatest place to hang out it was still somewhere to _sit_ which was all he felt up to doing right now.

Silence lapsed between them, only broken by the soft conversation of the two adults in the room. It didn't last–of course it didn't.

Meiling let out that miffed little puff of air she always did. "Wow, you must really _feel_ like shit too if you're not even going to comment."

Wei managed a groan that accomplished nothing accept for sounding completely pathetic.

"What even _happened_? You better not be developing motion sickness because if you do then our mecha fighting career is in jeopardy."

 _Our mecha fighting career?_ There was a problem with that phrase. Mainly the 'our' and the 'career' parts. Unless they could get their hands on another mecha unit and locate another open fighting ring in the Fire Nation, Wei was pretty sure that his fighting days were going to be put on a bit of a hold. Which, well, there went their main source of income.

"You're probably sick, with your luck," she was saying. "Trust _you_ to catch the flu out of season."

Wei was building up the courage to say something when Anyu came storming over to them. There was no blood on his hands or the walls so Wei figured negotiations had gone okay, though the mile-long-stare that he had been wearing for most of the past day and a half appeared to be wavering in favor of something a lot more…angry.

"Come on," he said, nodding to the door. "Might as well get some lunch."

Meiling perked up at that. Wei's stomach churned uneasily and he kind of wanted to cry.

The town they were in (Hong Shan, Wei vaguely remembered from the street sign) did a fair amount of business for a mining town, so there were a couple of places to eat. They ended up at a stir-fry place just across the street where Wei managed to choke down some rice and pretend like the room wasn't spinning.

"So, what's the news?" Meiling asked finally when their plates were mostly empty. "Good, or bad?"

Anyu was staring out the window. He seemed to be in the habit of deliberately not looking at them, as if ignoring the fact that they existed would somehow make them just go away. Wei would have found it annoying if attracting his attention didn't scare him so much. It was bad enough that they were stuck traveling with a murderer babysitting them–if the guy didn't want to get chummy with them, well, that suited Wei just fine.

"The good news," Anyu managed eventually, just barely turning to face Meiling, "is that the mechanic here can fix the satomobile."

"That's great!" Meiling said. Wei could agree with that–walking was definitely not something he wanted to face the possibility of, especially out here in the outer provinces where towns were generally smaller and more scattered.

"The bad news is that to fix it he needs to order a part, and that's going to take a couple of days."

Wei slid down in his seat bonelessly. Stomach churning slightly less now that he had managed some food, he chanced opening his mouth. "We can't…acquire another satomobile?"

Anyu made direct eye contact with him for the first time in twenty-four hours and Wei sunk even lower in the booth. "In a town like this? No."

Meiling leaned in curiously. "Why not, though? I mean, it worked before–"

Anyu drew a hand over his face, looking annoyingly like someone trying to reason out philosophy to five-year-olds. "Look. I'm not going to ask how you two got as far as you did on your own. Obviously it worked out all right in the areas closer to the capitol–you probably weren't the only ones using less than honest means to get around.

"We're not near the capital anymore. People out here are a lot more stubborn and a lot less under control than your empress would probably like them to be. You saw that military outpost we passed on our way into town? No one out here likes the military getting involved in their business, which is probably the only thing that is keeping whatever authorities that are chasing you two lagging behind us. But the thing is, people out here don't see many strangers. We keep our heads down, keep the locals happy and uninterested in us, odds are no one's going to feel obliged to give out honest information when soldiers roll into town asking about us. We start stirring up trouble, steal from the locals? We're going to have an entire _town_ out for our blood, and one tied to a military outpost at that."

Wei eyed some of the locals walking on the street through the window. "You make a bunch of townsfolk sound almost scary."

The corner of Anyu's lip twitched lightly, like it wanted to sneer but didn't have the energy. "You city kids are more sheltered than you think you are."

Meiling looked absolutely offended. Wei just rolled his eyes. "Oh I just bet."

Anyu seemed to have gotten over his chattiness, and Meiling didn't seem willing to pick it up from there like she usually did and was content leaning back in the booth, swinging her legs under the table. Wei went back to looking out the window, trying to ignore the remaining pangs in his stomach.

"You shouldn't be so quick to resort to stealing," Anyu said out of the blue.

Wei started and banged his forehead on the windowpane. "What?"

"You shouldn't be so eager to steal from people," he repeated. He wasn't making direct eye contact anymore, instead having settled his gaze level with Wei's forehead, attentive but still reluctant to acknowledge him fully.

"Seriously?" Wei heard himself saying. "This from the guy who we met in prison?"

Anyu didn't back down. "I'm not saying I'm a role model–I didn't exactly sign up to play responsible adult figure here. I don't know what your collective history is–let's keep it that way. What I'm saying is, kids your age shouldn't be looking to start fights and be criminals."

Despite the twisty feeling still lingering in his stomach, Wei managed a smirk. "Is that the sort of advice _you_ would have paid attention to when you were our age?"

Anyu's eyes narrowed, and his eyes wandered around the restaurant, finding the only other occupant, the stewardess, manning the counter well out of earshot. "No. But I'm not the avatar."

Wei felt his fingernails dig into his palms. "I see." Meiling's hand was on his arm before he could even think about moving. Not that he _was_ thinking about it with how awful sudden movements had been making him feel.

"Hey, it looks like there's a motel across the way over there," Meiling said, leaning over to point out the window and cutting between their confrontation. "You know, since we're going to be here a while."

* * *

Upon inquiry all but one of the motel's rooms were vacant, and the bent-shouldered old man who owned the place offered them a cheap rate for however long they needed.

"Not many folks coming through here these days," he said cheerfully as he handed over the room key. "Especially not since…" his eyes lost some of their shine. His smile stayed firmly in place. "Well, anyway, you're in the second room facing the road, but you can always switch if traffic noise bothers you."

Anyu took the key without much comment. Meiling, though, had obviously had her interest piqued.

"Since what?" she asked.

The motel owner rubbed the bald patch on the back of his head. "Ah, well now, I wouldn't want to bother you nice folks with silly local troubles."

That didn't sound good. "Local troubles?" Wei chipped in.

"Well, some folks around here are just a little stirred up lately–people like to talk and gossip, you know. Lately we're got a batch of rumors going around that the local spirits have gotten stirred up about something."

"Spirits," Wei said. His stomach dropped again.

"Just people getting excited over nothing, I'm sure," the man said, smiling wide enough to show his gums. "We don't get much action in these parts."

Anyu paused mid-step already on his way to the door. "…No," he said, "I wouldn't think you would."

The elderly man's smile froze on his face. "Y'all just let us know if you need anything."

Wei shared a raised brow look with Meiling on their way to the door, but she looked just as lost as he did.

Their room wasn't much; there was a sitting area sporting a fold-up futon (brought in by the owner's wife), some chairs and small table, small kitchen in the corner, and a door close to the kitchen leading to a closet sized bathroom. The far side of the room was partitioned off by a screen and held two twin-sized beds. Anyu took one look at the accommodation and staked his claim on the futon.

There was a radio on one of the side tables that worked well enough, so they spent most of the evening listening to the news and then some crime drama that came on after. There wasn't much conversation, not that Wei minded the silence.

Wei didn't remember what a luxury sleeping on a mattress was until he lied down in one of the beds and nearly wept. It was a pretty crappy mattress–stiff and obviously well used, but it was something that wasn't the floor or the backseat of a satomobile, and he didn't have to share, which made it almost perfect. If it weren't for the fact that his stomachache had left a headache in its place after it finally left he probably would have been able to fall asleep the moment he settled under the covers.

After he had rolled over in bed for what had to be the hundredth time in an hour, Meiling rolled over in her bed to face him. "Still feeling bad?"

He worried for half a moment about disturbing Anyu, but from the sounds of deep steady breaths and the occasional light snore from the other side of the screen, the guy was already out. Well, that was one point deducted from the 'constantly vigilant, inhuman predator' bounty-hunter image.

Wei sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah. I don't get it. It doesn't feel like I'm sick. I just feel…off balance. Also like someone dropped a brick on my head."

Meiling hummed thoughtfully. "It started when we pulled over at that place up the road, right?"

"Yeah," Wei said. "Why?"

"That place was weird."

A dark laugh escaped his lips. "Yeah…fresh ruins in the middle of the empire are generally uncommon." He really didn't have good feelings about what could have caused them. He'd be glad when they had put more than a couple of miles between them and that place.

"…Don't tell me you didn't feel it."

His canine dug sharply into his lip, purely on impulse. He really needed to stop doing that if he wanted to not have a perpetually bloody lip. "…No one else brought it up. I wasn't sure you had noticed." Noticed how the moment they had driven up to the ruined village everything had gone cold and the air had gotten thick with…with something, static or ozone maybe.

"It didn't make _you_ sick though," Wei said, words coming out a bit more accusing than he had intended them to.

Meiling made that humming sound again. "Maybe I didn't get the full effect that you did. I mean, for me the atmosphere just felt kind of heavy, like there was a storm overhead, and I felt a little twitchy."

"I felt all that too," Wei admitted. "I felt sick to my stomach, though, like someone had sucker punched me in the gut. And there was this…prickly feeling I got, like stuff was crawling over my skin." He rolled over to press his face into his pillow and groan in frustration. "That's just not _fair_."

"It could make sense, though, right?" Meiling said. "That guy said that the spirits around here had been acting weird. And, I mean. You're the _avatar_. Aren't you supposed to be more spiritually sensitive by default?"

Wei remembered spirits on a rooftop and a cold, angry aura that had, in a way, started this whole mess. He nodded thoughtfully, but the motion was likely lost on her. "I mean, yeah. And, well, Mom always said that we attracted spirits like mothflies to a flame when we were little– _both_ of us, so maybe you're spiritually sensitive too and that's why you noticed something was up but our beloved escort didn't seem bothered."

Another thoughtful hum. "So whatever weird spirit stuff is going down around here…that place–Lao An?–that's probably the cause of it." The springs on her mattress creaked sharply as she shot up in bed. "It's like one of those mystery novels you're always reading!"

Wei's headache flared in a particularly vicious throb. He had a bad feeling he knew where she was taking this conversation. "No."

"We should investigate!"

"Meiling, _no_! No, no, _noooo_." This was why he had been so glad to finally have his own room at home.

More creaking. Was she bouncing in her bed? "Come _on_ , spoil sport! We're stuck here for a few days anyway!"

"As much as I hate to agree with our resident bounty hunter, I think I'd rather not stir up trouble in a strange town with law enforcement so close."

And there was the annoyed puff again. He wasn't going to be getting sleep anytime soon. "We won't cause trouble–just do some investigating. What's the point of being the avatar if you can't take care of some spirit shenanigans? I bet if we could figure out what's going on the towns people would be really grateful, too!"

"Oh, _I'm_ sorry, I thought I had already made it clear I'm not up for the whole avatar shtick. Must have been my imagination. My bad."

He didn't need to see Meiling's disappointed scowl to know it was there. "Yeah, you really _are_ sorry. Wei, come _on_!"

The throbbing in his head was rapidly increasing tempo. "I told you when you wanted to come along, Mei–this isn't supposed to be _fun_. Why–" Something clenched in his chest as he thought over the smiles on his sister's face from the past week, the carefree humming and chatting when all he could think about was getting to the next town and how far they could stretch their money before they had a problem. And yeah, most of that was just Meiling being Meiling, but even for _her_ …something was just not setting right with him. "Why are you so eager to play this off as a vacation, huh? How can you be so damn _chipper_ about all this?"

The creaking on the other side of the room stopped. There was a heavy _whump_ , a moment later, probably Meiling flopping back on the mattress finally. After a couple of moments he started to think she was ignoring him and felt a pinch of irritation.

"Dad asked me about the mecha fighting thing," she said out of the blue, "you know, while you were out cold."

"Oh," Wei said, not really sure how that was supposed to answer his question.

"So, I told him. Well, okay, he got the skimmed-over version. He wasn't happy. Couldn't believe we'd do something so 'reckless' and 'irresponsible' and gave this whole big speech about how engaging in illegal sport was bad and all that stuff. He said he couldn't believe you'd use your 'natural given talent' for something like that and that I had encouraged you."

Wei winced. He opened his mouth to say something that probably would have been bitingly sarcastic, but Meiling kept talking.

"Afterwards, Mom pulled me aside. D'you know what she said?"

"What?" Wei asked, because it was clear that was what she expected of him.

"She said 'Mei, it's all well and good that's you're smart and talented, but you really should be focusing your energy on other areas. I'm worried that you're spending all your time and effort on these hobbies of yours in these years when you should be refining yourself.'" A shaky laugh burst from her lips. It made Wei's skin crawl. "I spent two years designing and building a fully functional mecha unit, Wei. Two years! I finished building a mecha at _fourteen_! A _waste of time_ , apparently. I have more _important_ things to be focusing on, apparently."

Wei stared at the ceiling, willing the blankets to swallow him up. _"Disappointment"_ , she had whispered so many weeks ago, when she thought he wouldn't hear. _"That's always been my job._ "

Her bitter laugh trailed off into a frustrated sigh. "Never mind," she said. "You wouldn't get it."

 _No, I don't_ , he thought. He really didn't _want_ to get it. He hoped he never would.

"Goodnight, dummy," Meiling said. It was a long time yet before either of them slept.

* * *

The next morning, Wei woke from a light and uneasy sleep to find that he was the only one awake, surprisingly enough. While he was used to Meiling sleeping most of the morning away when she could get away with it, he had had yet to catch Anyu in the act and was almost unnerved to walk into the main part of the room and find him still passed out on the futon. Whatever eerie peace might have been invoked by the scene was abruptly broken by the man's ear-bleeding snore that tore through the room. It only served to further undermined the cool, stealthy image that Wei had been building up of the guy in his head.

A look out the window revealed that the first couple of pale rays of sunlight were only just beginning to creep above the horizon. No wonder no one else was up yet. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly and made for the bathroom, figuring that, as long as they were stuck here he could make use of finally having a place to wash up.

He showered quickly on autopilot, falling into his usual school morning routine despite almost two months of neglect without even realizing it. Then he considered the aches in his back left over from sleeping in a satomobile for the past several days and the fact that he had fuck-all to do today anyway and decided to run a warm bath. He somehow ended up running the water hotter than usual without registering it and nearly scalded himself when he settled into the tub. But the heat felt nicer than anything he had felt for the past week, and the steam building up in the room made him feel cozy somehow.

About ten minutes into a good soak with no motivation to abandon it anytime soon, Wei ran his hands over the surface of the water thoughtfully, wondering at the soft tug of resistance from the water at his fingertips. It felt a little more insistent than he was used to, though maybe that was just him overthinking it since he had finally puzzled out how to coax little bits of water to move with his hands the other day when he had fallen in the stream.

Sinking back into the water until his face was barely above the surface Wei lifted his hand slowly, a grin spreading itself across his lips unbidden when a couple of water droplets followed his palm into the air.

 _Anyu's probably right,_ Wei thought, _this is really pathetic._ But it _was_ waterbending, pathetic or not.

He carefully moved his hand through the air for a while, watching the little water drops float around to chase it while he concentrated on keeping them from falling back into the tub. He wasn't so sure why he was so enraptured to be honest. Earthbending had never been like this–fresh and new and _exciting_ despite his better judgment. Earthbending had been a lot of panic and breaking things and careful, _quiet_ explorations when no one was around to notice when he screwed up too badly. Firebending so far had been pretty similar to that, though with even more panic and more pretending like it didn't exist in place of experimentation, despite Meiling's best efforts.

This was…different somehow. Safer than bending usually felt–he wasn't going to crush someone's foot or set anything on fire if he screwed up. Water wasn't _loud_ or showy in the way earth and fire wanted to be, and it seemed to actually _want_ to move with his actions, once he finally figured out how to reach out to it. This was something he could do without drawing too much attention and without worrying about anyone getting hurt or upset.

The bathwater had long gone cold before Wei finally pushed himself out of the tub and toweled himself off. He was still lingering, taking his time drying off when sounds from outside drew his attention.

Anyu had disappeared from the futon when he walked out into the main room and was standing leaning against the doorframe, watching whatever commotion was going on from the window by the door. The look he shot him when they tiptoed over to join him was surprisingly tolerant, especially for how early it was. The only other acknowledgement he gave was to raise a finger to his lips and turn back to watching out the window.

There was a cop standing in the middle of the main road outside the town hall talking with an older gentleman who was dressed well enough that he might have been the mayor and some other guy who was a bit younger and more shabbily dressed. The officer was tall and bent-shouldered in a way that was half weary, half bored and suggested that he was probably the only police officer in town. On both sides of the road, people were starting together, pausing in their daily business and failing at casualty badly enough to make it obvious that they'd come from all corners of town to gawk at whatever business was going on.

"Something happened last night," Meiling's voice said right behind him, and Wei jumped. She rudely ignored the sour look he shot her in favor of shoving up next to him to stare out the window too. "I heard something out there last night, like someone running by really fast, being chased."

"Did you actually see anything, though?" Wei asked. Running feet made him think thieves. The last thing they needed was to be stolen from.

Meiling quirked a sour look right back at him. "I was half asleep–why would I get out of bed for something like that?"

 _Survival instincts?_ Wei wondered. He knew he sure wasn't sleeping as deeply as he had used to before they went on the run

Some other people had been called over to talk with the cop and the mayor, their voices carrying a bit better.

"…on the residential street this time, right outside my house!" the shabbily dressed man was saying. "If my wife hadn't woken up it might have spread to the house and everything would have gone up!"

"…The third incident this week!" a slight of form woman was saying. "I'm starting to wonder if the streets are safe at night!"

"Before this it was mostly harmless, but now…"

"No doubt it's arson. Not denying it now!"

Wei didn't like the sounds of any of that. "A fire in town?" One either deliberately set or at least believed to be so.

"Several fires, from the sounds of it," Meiling said thoughtfully. "Who's doing it, you think? What does it mean."

The view from the window was suddenly cut off sharply as Anyu yanked the curtains closed. A pronounced crease had appeared on his forehead that made it look like he was either contemplating something deeply or trying not to punch a wall.

"For the three of us," he said firmly, "it doesn't mean anything. We're not getting involved."

"But what if the arsonist sets fire to the motel?" Meiling wondered, getting that thoughtfully belligerent look on her face. "Wouldn't it be our problem then? Shouldn't we at least be aware of any potential dangers?"

Anyu didn't look at all moved. "We're only in town for a couple of days. Lay low. Don't draw attention to yourselves, and we won't have a problem."

"But that's _boring_!" Meiling huffed. "What _else_ are we supposed to do for that long?"

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Anyu said, shrugging on his jacket. "Now, I'm going to go find food. You two _stay_ here." He paused at the door, eying them both doubtfully. "Think you can stay out of trouble that long?"

"Uh, yeah." Meiling obviously didn't appreciate the skepticism in his voice. "I think we can manage."

He still looked doubtful, but he walked out the door anyway. The second the door closed behind him, Wei raised an eyebrow at his sister.

"You're going to go stick your nose in things, aren't you."

Meiling quirked a smile before turning to whip the curtains open again in time to watch Anyu walk down the street past the crowd. "You know me so well."

Wei took a deep breath in. Held it. Released it. Steeled himself. "You know, as much as I hate to agree with Mr. Murder-Fists, I kind of have to agree with him here."

Her head whipped around so fast one of her braids nearly whacked her nose. " _Seriously_? Not you too! We're here for _days_. We won't stir anything up, I just want to do some investigating!"

Wei winced internally at the thought. _Sure we won't. Because our luck is always so stable._ "Maybe we could, I don't know, take these days to actually lay low. Rest. That sort of thing."

Meiling gave him a hard look. "Do _you_ want to spend the entire time laying low in the motel room? _Resting_?"

 _Fuck no._ Just the thought of that much idleness made his fingers itch. Though the thought of having a little bit of down time to read sounded nice–just not, like, days worth of it. Especially not trapped in the same space as Meiling and a newly acquainted bounty hunter.

"No," he said carefully, because spirits knew that girl could detect weakness a mile away. "I'd just rather not spend it inside another prison cell either."

She shook her head sadly at him. "You're so paranoid, I swear."

 _…We're literally on the run from the police and_ I _'m paranoid?_ Before he could think of a properly sarcastic response she had already turned and was heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Wei demanded. Well, less demanded, more indignantly squeaked if he was being honest with himself.

"Chill, I'm not going to start a riot," she said, "I'm just going to the front desk area to poke around for a bit. Anyu won't be back for a while–stay here and stew if you want."

He told himself he wouldn't follow her this time. If she wanted to stick her nose in things and get them in trouble, he wouldn't have any part of it. He told himself all the way out the door.

Surprisingly enough, the motel owner that had checked them in the other day wasn't at the desk when they got there. Instead he had been replaced with a slightly younger, more weathered looking man with graying hair that kept glancing at the front door nervously, as if expecting someone to come charging through. When they entered, he just about jumped a foot in the air.

"How can I help you?" asked, regaining his composure quickly.

"Oh, we're just kind of wandering around," Meiling said, waving her hand dismissively. "We were going to go for a walk, but it looks like there's some commotion outside."

The man gave her an indulging, if not slightly strained smile. "Ah yes, sure does look that way." A carefully evasive answer.

"I hope it's nothing too troublesome," Meiling continued, and never let it be said that she wasn't committed to her antics. When the man didn't respond readily, she added, "I thought I heard someone mention a fire."

The man's face went troubled. "Yes, unfortunately we've had a rash of fires lately. It's been a bit dryer than usual this summer, and some think it's making fires more likely to catch."

Meiling leaned against the counter, feigning interest in a rack of tacky key-chains. "Hmm, really? What do _you_ think?"

The man took a half step back from the counter, eyes darting nervously to the door again. Definitely suspicious, Wei couldn't help but observe. "Me?"

"Well, you said 'some people' which implies not everyone." Meiling continued, running her fingers over one of the metal rings. She was being _so_ careful to sound bored, and with the uncomfortable look written on the desk attendant's face, it was undoubtedly a good call. _Why is he so nervous?_

"All those people out there seem pretty worked up for a just a dry spell," Wei couldn't help piping in, and damn Meiling for getting him interested. He stood a bit further away from the counter in a way he hoped looked appropriately disinterested.

A beat of quiet–the man seemed to be debating something internally. His lips parted, hesitating for a moment longer. Then: "There's been some talk around town lately; you know how things are. People are just a bit stirred up is all. It's probably nothing."

 _You don't seem so sure about that._ "What kind of talk?"

He hesitated again, and Wei was beginning to wonder if maybe they'd harassed the man beyond his usefulness when the door flew open and a woman came bustling inside, disturbing whatever tense atmosphere they'd had building.

"Huang!" she said, stopping just inside the door to lean against the frame. "Thank goodness! I'd heard…I wanted to make sure you were alright."

The man, Huang, gave another strained little smile. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

 _Why indeed?_ No, they were supposed to be staying out of this. Out of the corner of his eye, Meiling smirked at him.

The woman's eyebrows pinched together curiously, and she opened her mouth as if to say something, but then her eyes landed on him and Meiling. "Who're the kids?"

"Just some out-of-towners stuck while their ride's getting fixed." Huang said, waving his hand dismissively. The sounds of shouting outside picked up for a moment, before dying down again, and he winced. "They sound pretty stirred up."

The woman shook her head scornfully. "Everyone's getting worked up again. Look, you ought not miss the next town meeting. I know you're busy helping Fu out, but we could really use someone with a level head on their shoulders and some _perspective_ –"

The conversation outside swelled louder again, this time clear enough to be well understood, "–and I know what I saw! I'm not the only one either! This aint no spirit we're dealing with here!"

Without thinking, Wei's feet carried him closer to the open door, Meiling drifting a few steps closer as well. Huang stayed resolutely behind the counter, but his attention was on the street outside.

"I saw it too!" Another voice shouted, followed by a couple other assenting calls. "That weren't no local spirit, and it weren't a person neither!"

More whispers, a swell of agitation through the gathered people. Wei couldn't see if the cop from earlier was still out there. He wasn't sure whether or not police presence would have made much of a difference and the thought was not at all comforting.

"You're full of buffaloyak shit, Kang!" Someone in the crowd called. "It was just a summer fire–"

There was a slamming sound–like someone stomping their foot against the pavement–and a slight tremor that had earthbender written all over it. Angry earthbenders–just what they needed.

"I'll tell you what it was!" the angry guy, Kang, spat. "It was a ghost!"

Another murmuring through the crowd, agitation and nervousness spreading like a plague through the gathered bodies. Apparently the cop _was_ still around, because he stepped into view on the street, calling for a return to order. Wei didn't hear what he said. He didn't really care to listen anymore. He had a bad feeling about this.

"You see," the woman in the doorway hissed at Huang. "This is madness! Someone needs to talk some sense into them, and they're only going to listen if it's some who was there in L–"

"Alright!" Huang cut in, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Alright, I'll…whenever the next meeting is, if it's still a problem, I'll say something."

"That's all I ask," she said, looking a good deal less pinched about the eyebrows. She had barely stepped back through the door when Meiling was by Wei's side, prodding him back towards the door themselves.

"So, a local ghost problem," she mused as they skirted the edges of the crowd to creep back to their room before Anyu could show back up. "You've got to admit, _that_ sounds interesting!"

"There's no such thing as ghosts," Wei said. He shouldn't need to tell Meiling that, but he felt it needed to be said here, just on principle. Spirits were an undeniable fact. They were mysterious, sure, and often times downright creepy, but they were indisputably _real_. Ghosts, on the other hand…ghosts were the stuff of folklore. No one had ever actually met a ghost, even after the opening of the spirit portals. Well, at least, no one who wasn't a complete liar or on some strong stuff at the time.

"Hmm," Meiling hummed back. "So you say, but–"

Oh, no, they were not playing this game. "No 'but', Mei, you know as well as I do! Whatever's causing trouble here, it's not a ghost."

"Alright," she said as they finally stepped back into the quiet of their room. "What then? You're curious, don't pretend like you're not!"

"Fine, I'm curious," the words tasted bitter on his tongue, but there were bigger priorities here, like getting that mischievous gleam out of Meiling's eye before it hurt someone (probably him). "But we need to lie _low_ , Mei! Say it _is_ something other than a normal arsonist or summer heat–how would we even investigate without people noticing?"

Meiling scratched her chin thoughtfully. It was a very dangerous thoughtfully. It was the type of thoughtfully that ended in putting spiderwasps in the neighbor's mailbox.

"So it can't be a ghost." She conceded. "You've gotta admit, though, this sounds like spirit shenanigans."

Wei had a bad feeling he knew where this was going. "Mei…"

"The best way to learn about the local spirits is to talk to spirits."

"Mei, no, I don't think…"

"And the best way to talk to spirits–"

"Mei, this isn't–"

"Is to go where there's a lot of spirit energy."

That nauseas feeling was coming back again. "I swear, Meiling, if you're about to suggest what I think–"

But Meiling wasn't paying attention to Wei. Caught up in her own excitement, she bounced on the balls of her feet and stabbed her finger into the air. "And it just so happens that we know a place with a _shit ton_ of spirit energy!"

 _…Of course. Why should I have expected anything different?_

* * *

In retrospect, Sang probably should have expected something like this to happen. Things had been going so well lately–the school had been attracting more students than it ever had since Grandfather had passed, and pleasurable weather had left everyone in An Zun in a good enough mood that it was almost bearable to walk around the market on most days. Even the usual scornful stares and whispers were unusually subdued and quiet, as if people were finally learning to get over themselves. Things were almost…pleasant.

She should have known. Good things never lasted.

Talk started up the moment the three strangers rolled into town a little past noon. The only reason she didn't catch wind of it was because she was in the practice yard at their tiny bending school, telling Jang Lu for the fifth time that he needed to stand with his feet wider apart if he didn't want to get knocked flat off his feet by the other boys. She was just starting to piece together another grand rendition of the 'you can't expect to improve your earthbending if you're not willing to improve your stance' lecture when Biyu bolted through the gate, face flushed with excitement.

"Saaaang!" she called, and Sang would forever marvel at the lung capacities of seven-year-olds.

"I'm right here, sweetie," Sang said, and it looked like that lecture would be put on hold for now. "There's no need to shout."

Biyu bounced up and down on her feet, paying no mind to the reprimand. "There're some people outside that want to talk to you!"

 _Strangers?_ They knew everyone in the village by name, and Biyu wasn't likely to get so excited for familiar faces. "Tell them I'll be around shortly."

She took perhaps a little more time than was necessary getting the students set in their repetitions and occupied enough that no one was likely to cause any trouble within the next five minutes. Hopefully this interruption wouldn't take longer than that.

 _New neighbors?_ she wondered as she ducked through the gate. _No, there's been no property sold, and we would have heard if anyone's family was coming to visit._ Maybe they had come to observe the school? It didn't happen often anymore, but Grandfather's earthbending style had gained some popularity back in his day, back when backwoods towns might still garner attention once in a blue moon. _If not that then why on earth would strangers come calling here?_

She rounded the corner into the front yard and registered military insignias and stature in a half-second. It was almost long enough to turn on her heels and retreat back down the side yard before being seen, but only almost. _Soldiers_. She thought, heart suddenly beating uncomfortably hard. _There are soldiers_ here.

There were three of them, two fairly young–probably not much older than herself–lead by an older gentleman that reeked of seasoned violence.

 _I don't like this._ Sang thought. _I don't like this one bit._ It was a petty thought, born of years of petty company, and in any case irrelevant to the current situation.

"Ah, there you are, Sang," Grandmother said, catching sight of her faster than anyone else. She was standing on the doorstep to the house, hands folded in her sleeves where the military men wouldn't see them shaking. Biyu was dutifully standing next to her, all the seriousness a child could muster gathered on her face, but the way she bounded on the balls of her feet belied how impatient she was to be off chasing bugs in the flowerbeds again. Sang had half a mind to dismiss her inside with the uncomfortable feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, but Grandmother wouldn't approve of the rudeness.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Sang said, bowing to Grandmother and then to the soldiers (the wrong order of formality, she knew, but the soldiers would likely think it just the backwardsness of country folk).

"How may we help you?" she asked the eldest soldier, the picture of polite and respectful. His insignia labeled him a general, if Father's old lessons were remembered correctly. The vibrations at his feet spelled his beating heart's steady rhythm–calm as a rock, like someone who was much too used to standing at the top of things and looking downwards. "As I'm sure my Grandmother has told you already we are but humble people, but what is ours is at your disposal, General…"

"Nianzu," the general said, eyeing Sang up and down as if she were an ostrichhorse he was looking to purchase. It sent chills down her spine. One of the younger soldiers, the broader of the two smiled down at Biyu and crouched down on her level to talk with her quietly. That wasn't giving her any good feelings either. "Yes, well, it's a bit of a silly thing, actually. You see, me and my men are currently in pursuit of a dangerous criminal under the Empress's orders. We have reason to believe he might have passed through this area, but we've had some unfortunately luck gathering information."

His heartbeat held steady through the explanation. Sang felt her eyebrow furrow through years of well-trained manners. "And you worry he's come here? I assure you, there have been no strangers through here recently–you can ask anyone in town." From the subtly pinched look on Grandmother's face she had already told him as much.

"No, we're fairly confident that he hasn't come through here," the general assured her. "Actually, we've come to talk with _you_ Miss Sang."

As if to emphasize the unpleasant shock that the words sent through her, there was a shout and horrendous crashing sound from the backyard. Beneath the polite mask, Sang flinched. _Probably some of the boys fighting again._ Grandmother muttered an apology under her breath and shuffled towards the back, leaving her for all intents and purposes alone with the soldiers. With her gone, Biyu started rocking on her feet all the harder, clearly wanting to be dismissed. General Nianzu didn't look too keen on having her present either, from the way he was side-eyeing her distastefully. Probably not a fan of children, then, or maybe not a fan of how one of his soldiers had decided to indulge her by picking a dandelion from beside the path for her to play with.

"Biyu," Sang said carefully, "Why don't you show the nice soldier the front garden while we talk?"

Biyu glanced up from the dandelion eagerly, childish relief clear on her face. " 'Kay!"

Once she had dragged the soldier just out of earshot, Sang turned back to General Nianzu, nearly sighing with her own relief. She wasn't eager to have Biyu playing with a soldier, but the two were still close enough to watch without her having to worry about childish ears hearing their conversation. "You'd like _my_ help? Whatever for?"

"I was wondering if you might indulge me in some curiosity," he said. Over in the garden, Biyu gave a delighted laugh. He glanced to the side at the sound, watching. "It seems those two are having fun. What do you say we play a game as well?"

 _A game?_ Curious and curiouser. "Al…Alright?" She agreed, because one simply didn't turn down a military man. Especially not one on a mission from the empress herself. "What kind of game?"

"It's very simple," General Nianzu said. "I will tell you some statements, and then I'll ask you some questions."

"Okay," Sang said. It sounded innocent enough, which definitely meant there had to be something more complicated going on here.

"Very well," the general said, "Let's begin. My men and I come from Ba Sing Se. Three weeks ago the empress gave us our orders and we've been on the road ever since. My subordinate here is Tengfei, and the one playing with your…"

"Sister," Sang supplied.

"And the one entertaining your sister is Bohai." He paused, as if to let her take in the information. "Which statement was a lie?"

 _Oh,_ she thought, watching the expectant look behind his expression. _I see._ She pretended to look thoughtful, cursing nosy neighbors and loose tongues. _Probably best to play along._ If they had come here for rumors then they would expect her to live up to them to at least a certain degree. "The second statement, I suppose."

A pleased crinkled around his eyes, carefully masked. "How do you figure?"

She forced a girlish smile. "Well, surely three professionals such as yourselves wouldn't need whole three weeks to hunt down a criminal." _Your heart was flitting like a mothwasp._

"Good reasoning," he said. He didn't look so pleased anymore."How about a second round?"

"Alright, I suppose," Sang said, knowing good and well that there wasn't much of a choice here.

"The man we're looking for is wanted for widespread destruction and causing panic in the Lower Ring. We believe him to be traveling with a group of people. He is a very dangerous bender."

 _The second statement; his heart jumped there again._ But there had been a strange flutter at the beginning of the first statement as well. Was he speaking in half-truths, or was he upset about something?

"The second statement again." _Just play the game. They can't prove anything; let them think me a clever fool and nothing else._ Let them see basic reasoning skills behind a backwater superstition and think themselves smart.

"You don't seem so sure," the general said, looking strangely smug. _Damn me and my readable face._

"It's a harder choice," she said. "In any case, wouldn't it be easy to find him if he were in a group of people? I wouldn't think you'd have so many problems if he were to make himself so noticeable."

"A fair point, and a correct answer. How about one more go?" He didn't wait for her to give permission this time. "There are quite a few rumors floating around about you, Miss Sang. I've heard you're an earthbending instructor. I found that a bit strange–you're very young–but, you know, now that I've met you I think I can believe it. You're reading my heartbeat, to tell when I'm lying, aren't you Miss Sang."

 _Not a single lie,_ she barely registered past the pounding of her own heart. General Nianzu's was steady as a mountain, and just as unyielding. _What to say?_ She thought. She was thinking about it too long. The general just stared at her smugly. Well. It appeared she had been officially found out.

"You look so panicked," he said. _Do I?_ Her hand came up to fidget with her glasses without thinking. She supposed it made sense–she certainly _felt_ like she was panicking. "Don't be. I've come to ask you a favor, one that would, of course, promote the welfare of the empire."

 _The empire's welfare, huh?_ It brought up memories of shaken cities, soldiers in the streets, Mom and Dad's shouting over the dinner table about wars and change. It certainly wasn't making her feel any less panicked.

"As I've stated, me and my men are on the hunt for a dangerous criminal. We've faced certain difficulties receiving straight answers regarding sightings and relevant information for his whereabouts, and having a person with skills such as yours would be an incredible asset."

 _One does not simply turn down a military man,_ that didn't stop her mind from racing to try and find a way. Grandmother hadn't returned from the back. Biyu was still chatting away in the garden.

"I…I'm honored by your request, General," she finally managed. "But I'm afraid I don't quite know what you're talking about. In any case, I'd be more than happy to assist you where I can, but I'm not sure it would be possible for me to be away for very long. There's no one else to run the school, you see, or to assist my Grandmother in my absence." There was in fact a man a town over–a former student of Grandfather's–who came by once a week to assist with earthbending lessons and anything else they might need, but the officers didn't need to know that.

General Nianzu's pleasantly neutral expression grew hard. "Miss Sang," he said, his voice dropping low and dangerous. "I think we both know quite well by now that I'm not the only liar here."

 _Definitely caught._ Maybe if he was mad enough he might leave her here, even if she didn't go unpunished for lying to an officer. She didn't worry much what they might do to her, but if they did anything to Grandmother or Biyu in retribution…

As if reading her thoughts, Nianzu's eyes slid across the garden to Biyu again, before glancing back to her, considering.

"And I think we both know that that girl isn't your sister."

Any grain of hope she had been clinging to dropped out of her chest. _How can he tell?_ More rumors in the village, maybe, though usually the townsfolk didn't air their dirty laundry to strangers. It wasn't really so hard a thing for shrewd eyes to notice, she knew–Biyu had never favored Sang's grandparents or her parents for that matter. She resembled Sang a bit more, but her brown eyes had to come from somewhere.

In any case, if General Nianzu had had any doubt, examining the look on her face surely erased them.

"We'll wait half an hour," he said with the air of a man who fully expected to be obeyed. "You have until then to gather your things. Pack lightly–we'll be on the move a lot." She couldn't help it, her eyes flew to the garden again, to Biyu and the young soldier she was playing with. He noticed. Of course he noticed.

General Nianzu gave her a considering look, and he smiled for the first time since they had started talking. It was not a kind smile.

"Go fetch your daughter. She'll be joining us too."

* * *

"I don't see why you feel the need to drag me along for this shit," Wei muttered under his breath when that night saw them walking down a deserted road rather than tucked away in bed like any sane person. The night air was suffocating–heavy and humid after a clear afternoon had given way to an evening of rain-showers and thunderheads, making him feel like he was sucking in water with every breath. So much for Huang's claim to summer dryness; it looked like they could cross drought off of their list of potential sane causes.

Sneaking out hadn't been easy. Anyu wasn't an idiot, and he clearly suspected that the two of them were going to try and pull something. They had had to wait until long after midnight for him to finally fall asleep, and even then Wei had insisted they make their exit through the window rather than chance Anyu waking up to the creaking of the door. Wei was still certain in some dark corner of his mind that the bounty hunter was going to wake up any minute, find them gone, and come hunt them down like animals…

Okay, so maybe he _was_ getting a little bit paranoid. It certainly didn't help that the last time it had rained there had been murder involved.

To make matters worse, the downpours from earlier had turned most of the ground on the side of the road to a thick mud that sucked at Wei's boots with each step, making a loud squelching noise that was making it very hard to be as sneaky as late-night escapades were supposed to be. Meiling was still an obnoxiously good mood, hopping from puddle to puddle as if they were five-year-olds on a stroll in the park.

They had slogged their way back to the turn-off for Lao An when Meiling bounced into a puddle at the wrong angle, sending her feet skittering out from under her. In her panic, she grabbed ahold of Wei's shoulder to balance herself and instead pulled them both to the ground in a wet, muddy mess of limbs.

"Hey! Be more careful!" Wei hissed, wringing at his clothes hopelessly. They were going to need washing, and when you only had one other set of clothes to your name that could be a lot of trouble to go through. He hoped Anyu didn't notice and say anything about the mud stains tomorrow.

Meiling didn't even bother with brushing herself off and lifted her face to the sky. A beam of moonlight hit her through the trees on the side of the road at just the right angle to see a strange little smile lighting on her lips.

"What?" Wei asked warily. After their talk from last night he was finding himself a bit wary of her smiles and laughter, a little bit less trusting for them to be as carefree as she made them seem.

"Oh, nothing," she said, brushing him off to continue skipping through the mud. "I was just thinking…it's nostalgic, isn't it? Sneaking out in the middle of the night."

"Well, yeah, I guess. Now that you mention it." Truth be told he hadn't spared much extra thought for sneaking out tonight. After so long doing it behind their parents' backs it seemed like just another matter of business, like doing laundry or walking to school during the week. It felt…oddly comfortable, compared to all the other sneaking they had done this week. "If only there was a mecha fight at the end of this to blow off some steam."

Meiling chuckled, twirling in a circle so that her sodden skirt billowed out around her, spraying the undergrowth. And, well, why not. It wasn't like there would be any vehicles coming this way to catch them.

The village came into view faster than Wei anticipated, and he felt the drop in the pit of his stomach the moment they set foot past the gate. By moonlight, the place looked even more deserted than it had before, dead and pale as a corpse. The charged feeling in the air was even worse now that they weren't sitting in the back of a satomobile with a layer of metal between them and…whatever it was that was going on here.

"Feeling okay?" Meiling asked as they stepped into the ruins, shooting him a genuinely concerned look.

Wei swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to nod. A feeling like pins and needles had started along his arms, and he was already starting to feel sick to his stomach again, but it wasn't unbearable, and truth be told it wasn't so bad as last time. Maybe it was one of those things that just took getting used to. _Just keep walking. We shouldn't be here that long._

Night cast everything in a spookier light than sunlight had, and barely a few meters in Wei was already starting to feel like they were in one of the bad horror movers Cheng used to take them to go see, back before he was too good for that sort of thing.

At first, everything seemed weirdly silent, which only added to the eeriness of the whole place. Then, he noticed soft sounds on the edges of his hearing–flickering, buzzing sounds, some close and high pitched with curiosity, some barely registering, far away before cutting out completely. He cast a glance at Meiling, but she didn't seem to be bothered–if she noticed, she was ignoring it quite well. He almost asked if she heard it too, but then considered that he might not want to know the answer.

That cold, oppressive feeling remembered from a rooftop in Ba Sing Se hit like a bucket of ice water once they passed the crumbling remains of a stone block that might have once supported a statue and entered what looked like it could have passed as some sort of central plaza at one point. There was a staticky feeling in the atmosphere again as well, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"What exactly are we supposed to be doing here, anyway?" Wei asked in a whisper (it seemed appropriate) when Meiling took a seat on the edge of the ruined stone block. He only took a half second to deliberate and take a seat next to her–cold stone beat wet ground any day.

"I don't know," she admitted, tugging her braid. "Communicate with the spirits somehow, I guess. You're the avatar–if anyone can make it work, I guess it should be you." There was a twist to her mouth that me could barely make out in the moonlight that made him almost certain she was mocking him.

"Oh, sure," he grumbled, "I'll just chat it up with the next spirit to pass by. Plenty of friendly takers, as you can see." He stretch his hand towards to deserted ruins in front of them, to emphasize its emptiness. Meiling gave him that irritated huff and turned away.

Truth be told–and he was pretty sure by this point that Meiling _couldn't_ tell–the dead village wasn't feeling very dead anymore. The periodic flickers of sound were becoming more frequent, like things moving around them in the darkness. Occasionally he thought he saw things, too, in his peripheral vision–shadows that moved or changed shape, tiny sparks of gold floating through the dark. Flickering, barely-there forms gathering curiously that were never actually there if he turned his head to look. None of it was doing anything to fix the twisting feeling in his gut or to make him any more happy with this decision to come here.

"Didn't you go through spirit training or something at the palace?" Meiling wondered, leaning back until she was lying across the stone block. The sight of it made Wei uncomfortable–the stone under his hands was cold, cold, much too cold for summer, and it seemed to give off an ominous presence, like a sickly, living thing.

(That was ridiculous, he told himself, it was just a rock. Rocks weren't alive–when you touched them, they didn't touch you back. Not even as an earthbender. Not even as the avatar.)

"It was mostly just theory," Wei said, willing the quivering not to show in his voice. "Information on what we know about spirits from thousands of years of observations. I don't know why Master Liao even bothered–only the last fifteen years of study really matter anyway."

Was that something moving off to the right there? No, nothing again when he turned to look. Hopping hogmonkeys, he hated this place.

"Isn't there anything that might help?" Meiling asked. She was still lying on the rock, calm as a summer evening, somehow. It wasn't fair. "Something to draw them out? Meditation?"

"Meditation might be worth a shot." He didn't have the nerve to admit how much he sucked at it. He didn't want to think about what 'something to draw them out' might entail. Sucking in a breath, he scooted himself backwards until he was sitting cross-legged on the stone block. He did his best to ignore the cold feeling climbing from its cold surface and soaking into his clothes. _The sooner you do this, the sooner Meiling will give up and agree to go back._

Deep breathing didn't come very easily, but it did come, and it didn't take quite as long this time to slip into a rhythm. _Breath in_. Ignore the buzzing sounds itching at his ears. _Breath out._ Don't think about the things seen on the edges of his vision. _In again._ Calm, there was nothing sneaking up on him. _And out. Don't think. Not at all._

There were no apparent changes around him. Maybe addressing the spirits might help? It hadn't really worked last time, though it had gotten him a weird Avatar-memory-dream out of the deal. It beat listening to the creepy sounds on the edge of his hearing on any case.

"Oh Spirits of Lao An," he said in a low monotone, mostly just to sound more like he knew what he was doing in front of Meiling. "We ask that you appear before us!"

Nothing new. Not even cricketbeetles chirping to humor him. Great.

"Please, oh spirits," he tried again, concentrating so hard that he could feel a migraine growing in his temples, "come and speak with us."

More quiet–even the background sounds were growing more faint. _Great, now they're just flat out_ ignoring _me._

There was a soft _shush_ of fabric as Meiling sat up next to him. "Maybe we're going about it the wrong way," she whispered.

"What do you mean?" Wei asked, feeling just a little miffed. After all, _he_ was the one who had gone through buffaloyak shit spirit training, and _she_ had been the one to point out that he was the more qualified one here.

"Anyu said people in these small towns aren't usually comfortable with strangers," she said. "Maybe the spirits aren't either."

That was a…strange idea, though it did make a certain amount of sense. Spirits tended to grow attached to the places that they inhabited, if they stayed there long enough. The behaviors of the spirits affected their human neighbors, and vice versa.

"How do you suggest talking to them, then?" Wei asked. "I'm not exactly the best at getting people I _know_ to like me."

Meiling chuckled lightly. "Yeah, you _suck_ at socializing. I don't know, just explain why we're here. Be honest. Let them know we're trying to help."

 _Trying to help._ Is that what they were doing here? And here he had thought they were just poking around for their own curiosity. Sorting out spirit matters sounded much too close to Official Avatar Duties for comfort right now. He had told Meiling that…and yet here they were in Lao An, exactly where he didn't want to be.

Wei pushed the thought away for now–he'd get mad at Meiling about it later. Instead, he wracked his mind for inspiration. Spirits were more complicated than people in a lot of ways–they were hard to understand when they communicated and often temperamental and flighty. But one thing they had going for them–one this Wei had going in his favor–was that they were straightforward.

 _Just be honest_ , Meiling had said. Right. He could do honest.

"Oh Spirits," Wei tried again. "We're travelers passing through and sensed the wrongness of this place. Please, tell us what's wrong. What happened here?"

The barely-there sounds increased in volume a bit, humming with interest. Slowly, they grew louder, and Wei felt a presence, something in the clearing with them. Meiling's breathing was still steady and bored–unaware, so nothing corporeal had appeared then. Something was definitely interested though.

"We're just trying to figure out what's wrong here," he continued, "Why is Hong Shan being targeted? Did the people do something to you?"

The presence drew closer, dragging with it a heavy, staticky feeling that crackled through the air and made Wei's stomach flip. Next to him, Meiling went ridged, her breath hitched. "Wei," she breathed.

Wei didn't open his eyes. He didn't want to break his connection with whatever had obviously just shown up with them in the mortal plain. _This was an awful, awful idea._ But he had a feeling if he didn't see it through now they were going to be even more screwed.

"Tell us what happened here." There was no sound of footsteps to alert him of the spirit moving towards them, just the feeling of the atmosphere growing heavy and thick. It was crushing, like the air being sucked out of his lungs. His heart pounded in his chest, hard enough that he thought it likely to beat right out of his chest.

" _Wei_ ," Meiling hissed, sounding more panicked than he'd heard in a long time.

"Please!" Wei all but shouted, all too aware of the waves of anger rolling off of the being form moving towards them and terrified at what a spirit that pissed off might do. "I'm the avatar! I can help!"

The presence crashing towards them stopped right in front of him, halting abruptly. _I can help._ He wasn't sure how big a lie that was. He wasn't sure of anything at this point except for his still pounding heart. Against all better judgment, he cracked open his eyes, and Wei Yuan found himself staring down a monster. The spirit in front of him was similar to the small one he had seen back in Ba Sing Se, only about a billion times worse. Glowing red eyes that trapped him in their gaze, sending every primal fear of predation shivering down his spine. A cold feeling that sapped all the warmth in his body away. It's massive form–taller than some of the buildings here had probably been–seemed to shift endlessly, changing shapes as if it couldn't decide on which one to take. With each quivering of its body, golden sparks leaped from its pitch black from, floating in the air like fireflies before fading away into the night. Much like the sounds on the edge of his hearing, the monstrous spirit emitted a buzzing noise, high pitched and _angry_ , like it was growling at him.

Meiling was shaking next to him. Wei was shaking. The monstrous spirit was shaking, but it didn't move from where it stood, nearly nose-to-nose with Wei.

"Please," he breathed with what felt like it very well might be his last breath.

Still staring at him with those haunting eyes, the spirit edged its head forward, and a shape that might have passed for its nose brushed against Wei's forehead. At this barest of contact, the night twisted away in a burst of light, and feelings not his own spilled into his mind, raw and overflowing:

 _[Confusion, pain, fear, weakness clinging at the limbs, can't move, can't breath, can't_ become _, cold–so cold, even the earth has turned against us–]_

Wei fell back away from the awful touch, gasping for breath. The ruined village spun around him dangerously. He struggled to not scoot back away from the spirit in front of him whose gaze suddenly seemed less furious and more desperate.

"You're sick," he gasped. "That's is, isn't it? You're all sick!"

A staticky hum. He almost regretted asking with the way it stung his ears.

"Sick?" Meiling echoed, voice barely audible. Here eyes were locked on the spirit in front of them, wide as saucers. "An illness did _that_?"

"How?" Wei bit out. "How do spirits even get sick? And what does this have to do with the one attacking Hong Shan?" The dark form dipped towards him again, and he forced himself not to flinch when the icy touch met his forehead again. This time it was less a rush of alien thoughts and more a series of images before his eyes: a flash of light again, this time more sharp, defined–the outline of a town in a blinding pink glow, screams–terrible screams, a flicker of fire, a pair of golden rings, and then nothing. Wei was left blinking in the night again, thankful that he was sitting down and didn't have far to fall when he slumped backwards.

"Sweet Spirits of the earth," he managed under his breath. Was _that_ what passed for a coherent explanation in spirit-talk? _I knew I didn't want to deal with this shit._

Meiling's face appeared above him. Wei was never so glad to see a human face in his entire life. "You saw something," she said, her voice barely audible and yet much too loud. "What did you see?"

The spirit was still watching, red eyes angry, angry, angry, and full of pain.

 _"Avatar!"_ It was a strange sound as was the case with the voices of most spirits, and Wei couldn't quite decide if it was a plea or an accusation. He wasn't sure which was word shivered through the air and shook him to his core. Meiling slammed her hands over her ears, so he guessed he wasn't the only one hearing things anymore.

He opened his mouth to say something–he wasn't sure what. 'I'm sorry'? He certainly did feel sorry for the thing standing in front of him, but 'sorry' wasn't really worth much. 'I can help' would have been nice, but Wei really wasn't sure he _could_ help. Certainly not with the little knowledge he had now and only a couple of days to work with. In any case, he wasn't sure he _wanted_ to help, afraid that if he stuck his nose deep enough into this mess he might get sucked into something much deeper than he'd bargained for.

As Wei sat there at a loss for words, the decaying spirit–for that's what it was he had felt from it, he realized, _decay_ –flickered like a dying light and then, in a shower of golden sparks, disappeared, leaving a cold and sinister feeling in its wake.

The utter silence that was left behind was deafening. Even the background spirit noises from before were gone now–the Yuans were completely alone in the ruined town with nothing but their own individual thoughts. Eventually, the pounding of his heart slowed and the rush of adrenaline it had brought dulled into a useless shakiness in his fingers. He didn't feel very steady, but he abandoned their perch to stand on his own two feet, eager to be gone from this horrible place.

Meiling moved to stand next to him, not quite steady on her own feet. "Well," she said, planting her fists on her hips confidently, even though her voice didn't match it. "I…I have no idea what just happened. B-But. Well…good job, Mr. Spirit Bridge, I guess."

 _Good job._ Wei thought sardonically. He wanted to yell at her. He wanted to yell at _something_. He wanted to run very fast and very far away from this place.

Instead he slumped forward and emptied the contents of his stomach all over the ruined road, the chill and oppressive presence in the air finally too much. Meiling stood by his side and rubbed soothing circles on his back for a while until his stomach stopped trying to turn itself inside-out and they could move forward again.

* * *

Meiling had to all but drag him back to Hong Shan. It wasn't the most dignified of transportation methods. It certainly didn't feel very Avatar-like, and for that it felt all the more reassuring to have a shoulder to lean on. They had just stepped back onto town property and were wondering down some inconspicuous back roads when a faint pre-dawn glow started up on the horizon. Sun-up wasn't long off now. They'd be lucky if they got in before Anyu woke up.

"Hmm, the nostalgia just keeps on rolling, doesn't it?" Meiling hummed as she half dragged him down an ally.

Wei groaned in response. He couldn't mange anything else at this point.

"We're wandering home through the alleys at night," she mused. "My unfortunate brother has had a very avatar-ly experience and suffered a case of having an incredibly weak stomach." He let the comment slide, but filed it away for later complaint. "Now I'm dragging him home early in the morning before our over-bearing authority figure can wake up and realize we were up to shenanigans. If only we had money in our pockets like last time…" He let her ramble on softly as they walked. He was much too tired to keep up his end, but the familiar voice was comforting after having spirit voices and thoughts shoved in his head.

 _And for all that I still have no idea what it was trying to show me._ The pink glow had seemed familiar–maybe once he'd had some sleep he'd be able to place where he'd seen it before. How he was supposed to string everything else together was anyone's guess. _Spirits don't think like humans do,_ one of Master Liao's books had mentioned. That's why there was the avatar to act as a go-between, to settled disputes before things could get messy. _Lovely._ If Wei hadn't been sure that avoidance was the best option before, he sure as fuck was now.

He barely noticed the flickering of orange light around the next bend before they turned. Meiling was too caught up in her talking. He barely had enough time to be curious before he took in the scene.

There was another fire: that was the first thing that registered in his brain. They were looking over the fence into someone's backyard where a chickenpig coop was ablaze, sending the animals scurrying in a flurry of panicked oinks. There was something perched on the fence-post in a low crouch, observing the yard below lazily. Wei's sharp intake of breath altered it to their presence, and a pair of eyes, lit up by the firelight turned to look at them, startled.

 _A pair of golden rings_ , the image flashed before his mind's eye again, mirroring what he saw in front of him. _Not rings,_ he realized as he stared and rich golden watched back. _Golden eyes._

Golden eyes that were very noticeably _human_. The glow from the fire wasn't the easiest to see by, but now that his eyes were adjusting he could see the form just clearly enough; a human girl–a _child_ who couldn't have been more than ten–balanced on the fencepost, mouth slightly agape in surprise.

"Hey!" Meiling said, all but dropping Wei off of her shoulder. At the sound, the girl tensed and shifted as if to make a run for it. "Wait! We just want to talk to–" Too late. In the same moment Meiling stretched out a hand toward the strange child, she took a flying leap off of the fence into the alley below, landing lightly on bare feet before taking off at a run.

"That's no spirit!" Wei gasped as they scrambled after her. Despite how truly like shit he felt, he almost laughed. Was it all really so easy? Could this really just be a case of arson?

They all skidded onto a back road right as the first true rays of sunrise peeked about the rooftops. The girl came out just a little ahead of them and seemed to notice the light out of the corner of her eye. With a heavy scowl, she straightened–was she going to stop? Give herself up?

No, before either of them could lay hands on her, the girl's form flickered, not unlike the infected spirit in Lao An, and in a burst of golden sparks she was gone.

Wei leaned against a building for support, staring dumbly at the spot where the girl had disappeared.

"Okay," Meiling said, looking like she couldn't decide if they'd just uncovered a viperbat nest or won the lottery. Wei wanted to be sick again. "Maybe not a spirit. _Definitely_ not a human."

* * *

 **So, as already stated, life's been pretty crazy for me lately, but things should be settling down (keyword being should). With the trouble I've been having, I'm not sure if aiming for an update every month will be practical while I'm here in Japan, but I'll be doing my best to get chapters out as quickly as I can without sacrificing quality or sanity.**


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